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The  '^ 

Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

AN  HISTORICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  PACKET  AND  MARKET 
sloops  of  the  last  CENTURY,  WITH  A  RECORD 
OF   THEIR   NAMES;    TOGETHER    WITH   PER- 
SONAL REMINISCENCES  OF  CERTAIN 
OF  THE  NOTABLE  NORTH  RIVER 
SAILING  MASTERS 


BY 

William  E.  Verplanck 

AND 

Moses  W.  Collyer 


ILLUSTRATED 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW    YORK    AND   LONDON 

ZIbe   ftntclterboclter  press 
1908 


A 


Copyright,  1908 


WILLIAM  E.  VERPLANCK 

AND 

MOSES  W.   COLLYER 


TTbe  ImicJicrboclier  iPrcBS,  Hew  »ocft 


He 

(olO 


PREFACE 

No  history  of  the  sloops  of  the  Hudson, 
so  far  as  I  can  learn,  has  ever  been  written, 
nor  has  any  more  than  a  bare  reference 
here  and  there  been  made  to  them  in  the 
literature  of  the  past  sixty  years. 

Cooper  and  Irving  make  mention  of  these 
useful  vessels,  and  in  a  way  that  makes  it 
quite  evident  that  their  importance  in  the 
daily  life  of  the  people  struck  the  imagina- 
tion of  those  writers  in  a  lively  manner. 
But  later  writers  have  apparently  ignored 
the  sloop.  Perhaps,  it  was  because  she  was 
like  those  worthy  persons  who  make  no 
noise  as  they  go  through  the  world  and  whose 
quiet  and  useful  lives  are  taken  as  a  matter 
of  course. 

The  sloop  was  the  forerunner  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  vast  commerce  of  the  Hud- 
son which  has  now  reached  an  extent  that 


iv  Preface 

is  exceeded  by  few,  if  any,  rivers  in  the 
world,  and  as  this  vessel  played  so  important 
a  part  in  the  development  and  growth  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  particularly  in  connection 
with  the  Erie  Canal,  causing  the  city  of  New 
York  to  rise  to  be  the  chief  city  of  the  United 
States,  it  seems  quite  fitting  that  something 
should  be  written  to  preserve  the  memory 
of  these  inland  merchantmen. 

The  steamboats  of  the  Hudson  beginning 
with  the  Clermont  have  been  described  and 
catalogued  both  in  popular  and  technical 
style  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
reading  public,  so  it  occurred  to  me  that  a 
book  on  the  sloops  might  also  be  a  warrant- 
able venture  on  the  sea  of  literature.  If 
some  critic  insists  that  such  books  are  in 
great  part  mere  lists  of  names  of  vessels 
long  since  gone  to  oblivion,  then  I  retort 
that  Homer  had  his  "Catalogue  of  the 
Ships." 

My  acquaintance  with  sloops  goes  back 
to  my  early  boyhood  when  I  began  sailing 
a  skiff  with  a  leg-o'-mutton  sail.     My  home 


Preface  v 

was  on  the  east  shore  of  Newburgh  bay, 
and  a  capital  place  for  sailing  it  is.  Sloops 
and  schooners  then  were  constantly  passing 
the  house,  frequently  as  many  as  twenty- 
five  in  a  day,  and  often  they  would  lie  at 
anchor  off  our  place  for  hours  at  a  time 
waiting  for  a  change  of  tide.  It  was  then 
that  I  would  sail  out,  and  by  one  pretext 
or  another  manage  to  get  aboard.  Perhaps, 
baskets  of  apples  or  cherries  made  it  easier 
to  cross  the  gunwale.  In  this  way  I  got  to 
know  several  of  the  skippers  or  captains, 
and  soon  learned  to  tell  the  vessels  apart 
at  a  distance.  I  had  my  favorite  sloops 
and  hated  to  see  them  outsailed  or  looking 
shabby  as  was  sometimes  the  case.  The 
proudest  day  of  my  life  was  when  Captain 
Geo.  Woolsey  of  the  Samsondale  gave  me 
the  tiller,  and  I  called  out  "Hard-a-lee"  to 
the  man  at  the  jib,  as  I  put  the  sloop  on  the 
other  tack. 

A  great  event  in  my  life  was  a  voyage  to 
Albany  with  Capt.  John  Bradley,  of  Low 
Point,  in  his  sloop  J .  L.  Richards.     I   was 


vi  Preface 

then  twelve  years  old,  and  several  boys  of  my 
own  age  were  in  the  party,  the  captain's  son 
among  them.  The  river  was  teeming  with 
sturgeon  in  those  days — big  fellows  weigh- 
ing 250  lbs.  would  be  seen  leaping  several 
feet  into  the  air,  and  now  and  then  one 
would  fall  on  the  deck.  The  catching  and 
packing  of  these  fish  was  then  an  important 
industiy  along  the  Hudson.  The  product 
was  known  as  "Albany  beef,"  but,  owing 
to  its  cheapness  and  abundance,  it  was 
disdained  as  a  food,  albeit  the  flavor  and 
nutriment,  when  well  prepared,  were  of 
a  high  order.  We  were  gone  a  week  and 
I  well  remember  that  we  lay  at  anchor 
two  days  off  Coeymans  waiting  for  the 
south  wind,  with  several  other  vessels, 
for  the  flood-tides  were  weak,  and  we 
thought  the  tugs  demanded  too  much  to 
tow  us  to  Albany,  twelve  miles  farther  up 
the  river. 

Later  in  my  career  as  the  possessor  in  turn 
of  a  catboat  and  of  a  twenty-eight-foot  sloop, 


Preface  vii 

I  took  part  in  the  many  regattas  which 
occurred  on  Newburgh  bay.  Mr.  Irving 
Grinnell  of  New  Hamburgh  with  the  Fidget 
and  Judge  Charles  F.  Brown  of  Newburgh 
with  the  Lorelei,  were  leading  spirits  on 
these  occasions.  Nor  should  the  Van  Wyck 
brothers  of  New  Hamburgh  with  their  Bonita 
be  forgotten. 

In  collecting  the  material  for  my  part 
of  this  book,  I  have  had  much  assistance 
from  my  old  friend,  Capt.  Moses  W.  Colly er 
of  Chelsea  (formerly  Low  Point),  and  he 
has  been  several  years  gathering  facts  for 
his  part.  With  him  I  have  spent  much 
time  on  the  water  and  on  the  ice,  too,  for 
that  matter,  from  the  days  when  he  began 
his  career  as  a  mere  lad  on  the  Sloop  Benj. 
Franklin  with  his  father,  the  late  John  L. 
CoUyer,  a  brother  of  Thomas  Collyer  of 
steamboat  fame. 

Capt.  Moses  Collyer  has  had  an  ex- 
perience of  over  forty  years  on  the  River 
and  the  Sound,  as  captain  and  owner  sue- 


viii  Preface 

cessively  of  sloop,  schooner,  steam  barges 
and  lighters.  lie  has  been  faithful  and 
consistent  in  following  the  water,  and  has 
ver>'  justly  prospered  in  so  doing. 

William  E.  Verplanck. 

FiSHKILL-ON-IIUDSON  , 

September,  1908. 


CONTENTS. 

PART  PAGE 

I. — The  Sloop  as  a  Packet  Vessel.  i 

IT. — The   Sail  in   Competition   with 

Steam        .....        76 

III. — Personal  Reminiscences  of  Cap- 
tain George  D.  Woolsey  .     112 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING  PAGE 

The  "Half  Moon"  on  the  Hudson 

Frontispiece 
From  the  painting  by  L.  W.  Seavey  in  State 
Capitol,  Albany, 

A  Typical  Hudson  River  Sloop    .  .         2 

From  a  painting  by  W.  Sheppard.  Repro- 
duced from  "The  Rudder"  by  permission 
of  The  Rudder  Publishing  Co.,  New  York. 

Schooner  "Wm.  A,  Ripley,"  formerly 
Owned  BY  Robert  CollyerofChelsea      38 
From  an  old  photograph. 

The  Palisades  of  the  Hudson       .  .       50 

From  a  photograph  by  W.  J.  Wilson. 

Captain  John  Paye  of  Fishkill    .         .       52 
From  a  photograph  by  Cramer,  Matteawan, 
N.  Y. 

Captain  Augustus  Wesley  Hale,  late 
OF  Saugerties  .....       58 
From  a  photograph  by  Austin. 

Captain  Martin  V.  Drake  of  New  Ham- 
burgh, N.  Y.      .  .  .  .  .66 

From  a  photograph  by  the  Benedict  Studios, 
New  York. 


xii  Illustrations 

FACING  PAGB 

Sloop  "Mary  Dallas".  ...       68 

Owned  by  Captain  Martin  V.  Drake  of  New 
Hamburgh.  From  an  oil  painting  owned 
by  him. 

Captain   Moses   Wakeman  Collyer   of 
Chelsea    ......       76 

From  a  photograph  by  Whitney,  Pough- 
keepsie,  N.  Y. 

Sloop  "Benjamin  Franklin"  with  Cap- 
tain John  L.  Collyer  on  the  Deck       82 
From  a  photograph  taken  at  Seabring's  dock, 
Low  Point,  1 88 1. 

The    Schooner    "Iron    Age,"    Captain 
John  Pinckney  of  Low  Point,    now 
Chelsea    ......       92 

From  an  oil  painting. 

Captain  John  Lyon   Collyer,    late   of 
Low  Point         .....     102 
From  a  photograph  by  F.  E.  Walker,  Fish- 
kill-on-Hudson. 

Captain  George  Davis  Woolsey,  late 
of  Newburgh    .....     112 
Reproduced  from  an  old  print. 

Sloop    "General    Putnam,"  Built   by 
Charles  Collyer       ....      168 
From  an  oil  painting. 


THE  SLOOPS  OF  THE  HUDSON 


The  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 


PART  I 

THE  SLOOP  AS  A  PACKET  VESSEL  ^ 

The  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
discovery  of  the  Hudson,  soon  to  be  celebra- 
ted with  the  centenary  of  Fulton's  success 
in  steam  navigation,  serves  to  direct  the 
attention  to  that  river,  and  its  commerce. 

Between  the  Half  Moon  and  the  Clermont 
there  were  two  centuries,  and  it  was  during 
that  period  that  the  North  River  sloop  was 
developed  and  perfected.  The  Hudson,  let 
it  be  said  in  passing,  became  known  in  early 
colonial  times  as  the  North  River  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  Delaware  or  South 
River. 

The  sloop  proved  so  useful  a  vessel,  that 

«  Written  by  William  E.  Verplanck. 
I 


2  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

it  is  only  within  the  past  twenty  years  that 
she  has  passed  away.  The  sloop  died  not 
directly  because  of  the  Clermont  and  her 
successors, — those  giant  steam  passenger 
boats  that  now  ply  between  New  York  and 
Albany, — but  she  succumbed,  with  the 
schooner,  rather  to  the  great  steam  drawn 
"Tows"  that  now  pass  slowly  and  silently 
up  and  down  the  river  bearing  on  their 
barges,  scows  and  canal  boats  the  vast  ton- 
nage that  makes  up  the  commerce  of  the 
river.  The  sloops  did  not  feel  the  competition 
of  the  early  steamboats,  and  in  fact  often 
made  better  time  between  Albany  and  New 
York,  when  the  wind  was  fair;  nor  at  first 
did  the  sloops  appear  to  have  difficulty  in 
withstanding  the  competition  of  the  tow- 
boat  companies,  but  when  they  were  com- 
bined to  meet  the  great  increase  in  the  size 
and  number  of  cargoes,  necessitating  vessels 
of  larger  tonnage  to  transport  the  commo- 
dities to  the  New  York  markets  with  reason- 
able despatch  and  regularity,  then  the  sailing 
vessels  of  the  Hudson  were  doomed.     They 


A    TYPICAL    HUDSON    RIVER    SLOOP 

From  a  painting  by  W.  Sheppard  and  reproduced  from  The  Ruiitier  by  permission  of 
The  Rudder  Publishing  Co.,  New  York 


The  Packets  3 

made  a  good  fight,  however,  and  with  their 
defeat  has  disappeared  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque features  of  the  Hudson  River. 

The  sail  is  rarely  seen  on  the  river  to-day, 
except  here  and  there  a  small  schooner,  cat- 
boat,  or  other  yacht,  and  the  larger  sailing 
yachts  that  twenty  years  ago  passed  up  and 
down  have  been  superseded  by  the  steam 
yacht  or  motor  boat.  Even  the  occasional 
yacht  will  use  her  "auxiliary"  instead  of 
spreading  her  sails.  The  Hudson  is  fast  be- 
coming a  canal,  as  the  Rhine  has  already 
become,  with  double-track  railways  on  both 
banks  and  twenty  factory  chimneys  to  one 
castle.  The  width  of  the  Hudson  is  however 
sufficient  to  hide  or  obscure  many  of  the 
ugly  objects  that  now  line  the  shore. 

The  sloop,  as  its  name  indicates,  is  of 
Dutch  origin.  They  called  her  a  sloep.  It 
is  the  same  word  as  the  French  chalupe, 
and  the  Portuguese  chalupa.  In  its  simplest 
form,  it  is  a  vessel  of  one  mast,  carrying 
a  mainsail,  jib,  and  generally  a  topsail,  Ad- 
ditional jibs  and  other  sails  are,  of  course. 


4  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

carried  on  yachts.  The  sloop  differs  from 
the  cutter,  and  other  one-masted  "fore-and- 
aft"  vessels  in  having  her  bowsprit  fixed, 
while  with  the  cutter  it  can  be  drawn  in 
or  "housed."  The  cutter  is  narrow,  deep, 
and  sharp  and  has  a  keel.  For  steering  the 
sloop  a  long  tiller  was  used  instead  of  the 
wheel  which  was  not  introduced  until  later. 

The  Dutch  settlers  of  New  Netherland,  as 
well  as  the  English  and  French,  who  soon 
merged  with  them,  saw  the  advantages  of 
the  sloop  rig  for  the  commerce  of  the  river 
and  the  Sound.  At  first  she  was  fitted  with 
"lee  boards"  after  the  fashion  of  Holland 
where  they  still  linger.  But  the  advantage 
of  the  centre  board,  or  shifting  keel,  for 
shoal  water  and  sailing  to  windward  was 
soon  introduced,  perhaps  from  England, 
where  the  device  is  known  as  the  "drop 
keel." 

The  sloops  of  the  Hudson  were  about  of 
the  same  size,  say  one  hundred  tons'  capacity 
and  about  65  to  75  feet  in  length.  They 
were    full    forward,    like    the   other   Dutch 


The  Packets  5 

vessels,  and  had  a  high  quarter-deck,  which 
is  a  survival  of  the  poop-decks  of  the 
medieval  vessels.  The  mast  was  placed 
well  forward,  thus  giving  the  boat  a  large 
mainsail,  and  small  jib.  A  topsail  too  was 
generally  carried,  but  not  set  like  the  club 
topsail  of  the  modem  yacht.  The  quarter- 
deck afforded  space  for  the  cabin  accommo- 
dations for  the  passengers  of  the  packet 
sloops,  many  of  which  before  the  days  of 
steamboats  were  fitted  up  as  such,  and 
carried  no  bulky  freight,  only  parcels,  letters, 
etc.  There  was  an  ample  deck  for  prom- 
enade or  dancing,  so  altogether  the  packet 
sloop  was  far  from  being  an  uncomfortable 
means  of  conveyance.  The  packets  held 
the  river  for  many  years.  I  have  family 
letters  in  which  mention  is  frequently  made 
of  the  sloops  showing  that  they  were  a 
favorite  means  of  travel  and  for  shipping 
light  articles,  parcels,  and  letters. 
Some  of  the  letters  are  given  below : 
Miss  Mary  Walton  writing  from  New 
York  under  date  of  October  i6,   1806,  to 


6  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

her    sister,    Mrs.    Daniel    C.    Verplanck   at 
Fishkill,  says: 

My  dear  Sister: 

I  was  very  happy  to  hear  by  DeLancey  that 
you  had  so  good  a  passage  up — and  that  you 
found  all  well  at  Mount  Gulian.  He  got  back 
to  the  old  mansion  [the  Walton  House  on 
Franklin  Square]  about  ii  o'clock  on  Sunday 
night;  not  expecting  him  before  Monday  all 
hands  were  gone  to  Bed.  I  had  just  put  out 
my  Candle  when  he  knocked  at  the  door.  I 
regretted  you  hurried  away  last  friday,  so  did 
old  Abby  who  came  back  from  the  Sloop  a  few 
minutes  after  you  left  me.  She  expected  to 
meet  you  and  tell  you  the  Sloop  was  not  to  go 
till  2  o'clock.  I  suppose  you  had  stopped  at 
the  Booksellers  which  made  her  miss  you.  She 
carried  your  slippers  on  board  &  put  them  in 
your  Basket.  Beautiful  weather  again  this 
week  I  walked  out  to  Nut  Shell  Hall  yesterday 
afternoon  and  found  the  three  Sisters  together. 
...  I  have  not  heard  from  Heathcote  Hall  since 
you  left  me — I  must  write  to  Mrs.  De  Lancey 
soon.  Mrs.  Quick  &  Mrs.  Van  Wagenen  sent 
me  word  this  Minute  they  would  take  tea  with 
me  this  afternoon — I  will  leave  my  letter  to 
finish  in  the  evening. — My  party  are  just  gone. 
Henrietta  Hook  came  with  her  sister.  Mr. 
Quick  came  to  tea,  but  the  other  Benedicts  did 


The  Packets  7 

not  make  their  appearance  till  the  Tea  Table 
was  removed.  I  treated  them  with  Pears  and 
Grapes  and  we  were  very  social.  Nothing  oc- 
curred in  conversation  to  put  in  my  letter  except 
Mrs.  Quick's  saying  you  made  her  very  happy 
by  staying  to  dine  with  her.     She  desired  her 

best  regards  to  you 

Charlotte  Ogden  was  shopping  the  other  day 
&  met  Mrs.  Cooper  with  her  son  Tom — She 
stopped  &  said  to  her  what  fine  relations  I 
have.  They  scarcely  know  if  I  am  alive  or  not — 
I  have  begun  Housekeeping  a  very  short  dis- 
tance from  Dey  Street.  Mrs.  O.  told  her  she 
was  only  in  Town  for  a  few  hours.  Should  not 
move  in  till  the  last  of  the  month — She  talks  of 
calling  to  see  Mrs.  C.  as  she  must  pass  the  House 
so  frequently.  Grace  L.  said  she  was  afraid  to 
visit  her  as  she  might  have  more  of  Mrs.  C.'s 
good  company  than  was  agreeable.  She  has 
heard  how  well  Charlotte  O.  lives  &  makes 
advances  to  be  noticed  by  her.  Joanna  wants 
to  lounge  where  something  good  is  to  be  got. 
No  one  can  assume  affability  better  than  our 
cousin  Mrs.  C.  when  she  pleases.  Her  jaunt  to 
Virginia  did  not  mend  her  Health  as  she  ex- 
pected— had  a  bad  turn  there  without  making  a 
misgo, — is  in  a  Family  way — she  breeds  like  a 
Rabbit,  Grace  R.  is  a  woman.  .  .  .  Maria 
R.  is  well  but  subject  to  those  strange  sensa- 
tions that  she  had  last  winter.    Mrs.  O.  wished 


8  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

you  could  have  spent  a  day  at  the  Nut  Shell 
with  her.  ...  I  drank  tea  with  Uncle  G. 
on  Sunday,  went  twice  to  Church.  .  .  .  Did 
you  think  of  telling  Helen,  Abby  saw  her  Hus- 
band &  gave  him  her  letter  ? — She  has  not  seen 
him  since.  The  old  woman  went  to  the  Bishop 
this  afternoon  to  be  christened — her  mind  will 
be  easy  now.  .  .  .  God  bless  and  preserve 
you  in  Health  with  those  most  dear  to  you,  my 
dear  Sister  is  the  fervent  prayer  of 

Your  truly  affectionate  sister 
Mary  Walton 
P.  S.     Abby's  respects  &  her  regards  to  Helen. 
My  love  to  Mrs.  Dewint  and  the  girls. 

This  letter  folded  and  sealed  in  the  fashion 
of  the  day  before  the  invention  of  envelopes 
was  forwarded  by  sloop  to  Fishkill,  and  this 
was  the  year  before  the  Clermont  made  her 
first  trip.  The  address  on  the  letter  has 
this  note  "To  the  care  of  Capt?  A.  Weeks 
with  a  Pot  &  Basket." 

James  DeLancey  Walton*  writing  to  his 
sister  at  Fishkill,  September  8,  1826,  sends 
the  letter  "  care  of  A.  Davids,  Sloop  Caroline, 
with  a  Basket."     He  says: 

>  He  was  a  warden  of  St.  George's  Church,  the  first 
independent  offshoot  from  Trinity. — W.  E.  V. 


The  Packets  9 

My  dear  Nancy: 

I  have  packed  your  medicine  in  the  Basket 
with  the  Sweet  Potatoes — The  Bark  and  Rhu- 
barb I  had  put  in  bottles.  .  .  .  GuHan 
dined  and  went  to  the  funeral  of  Judge  Van 
Ness.  I  had  to  go  to  the  Steam  Boat  to  forward 
a  letter  covering  one  from  Walton.  Neither 
of  the  Mail  Boats  were  there  and  I  gave  it  to  the 
Captain  of  the  Sandusky  who  promised  to  send 
it  on  shore  at  Newburgh.  I  hope  he  will  not 
take  it  on  to  Albany.  ,  .  .  The  More- 
woods,  Lydes  and  Ogdens  were  all  well  yesterday. 

.  .  .  Tell  Mary  her  old  acquaintance 
Charlotte  White  called  to  pay  her  a  Visit  with 
her  sister  Amelia.  She  was  well  made  up  and 
both  were  smartly  dressed. 

On  July  8th  of  the  same  year  he  wrote  his 
sister  from  New  York  "  care  of  Capt.  A. 
Davids,  Sloop  Caroline  with,  a.  Box  &  Basket." 
He  says: 

I  bought  a  box  of  spermaceti  Candles  and 
put  them  on  board  the  Caroline  yesterday  after- 
noon with  a  Basket  of  Crackers  which  were  all 
the  commissions  for  this  week,  ...  I  found 
it  very  warm  in  the  Market  and  walking  in  the 
Streets,  have  a  hot  walk  to  take  to  the  Sloop 
with  the  letter,  and  if  Davids  was  as  punctual 
in  leaving  the  City  as  he  is  from  the  Long  Dock 


lo  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

[Fishkill]  I  shall  have  my  walk  for  nothing.   .  .  . 
Mr.  Adams  is  Dead  and  there  is  a  report  of 
the  death  of  Mr,  Jefferson  this  morning. 

The  same  Mr.  Walton  writing  to  his  young 
niece  at  Fishkill,  September  9,  1825  says: 

"  I  am  much  gratified  on  receiving  your  letter  an- 
nouncing your  safe  arrival  with  your  aunt.  .  .  . 
If  the  weather  will  permit  and  I  can  meet  with 
suitable  Fruit  I  will  send  it  by  the  Sloop.  .  .  . 
Mrs.  Lagrange  has  not  sent  home  your  Corsette; 
if  it  comes  in  time  I  will  forward  it.  .  .  . 
Miss  Van  Ness  &  her  Brother  called — a  Visit 
intended  for  your  Ladyship — supposing  you  still 
in  the  City. 

P.  S.  I  send  two  Baskets  of  Peaches  &  i  of 
Damsons.  I  have  picked  them  over  carefully  to 
try  &  preserve  them.  Your  Corsettes  were 
Brought  Home  just  in  time  to  be  put  in  the 
Box  with  the  Shoes. 

On  July  22,  1824,  Mr.  Walton  writes  to  his 
sister  at  Fishkill  and  sends  the  letter  "care 
of  Capt.  T.  Brett,  Sloop  Levant  with  a 
trunk." 

July  16,  1824,  he  writes  her  again: 

I  wrote  a  few  lines  to  send  by  the  Boxer  with 
a  Demijohn  of  Brandy.    I  could  not  find  a  man 


The  Packets  ii 

that  I  was  acquainted  with  to  take  it  to  the 
Sloop.  I  now  send  it  by  the  Belvidere,  Capt.  J. 
Wiltse. 

Here  is  an  account  of  a  trip  by  sloop  in 
early  winter,  written  from  Fishkill. 

My  DEAR  Mary: 

...  I  arrived  here  yesterday  between  the  hours 
of  four  &  five  and  found  all  the  family  well  from 
Mamma  and  Aunt  to  Goliath  and  Cherry.  I  had 
a  very  pleasant  passage  notwithstanding  my 
melancholy  forebodings,  which,  had  they  been 
yours,  would  doubtless  have  been  realized.  The 
weather  was  sufficiently  mild  to  allow  us  to 
remain  on  deck,  at  first.  For  about  thirty  miles 
we  met  with  large  cakes  of  ice,  but  after  we 
entered  the  Highlands  we  met  with  none  to 
impede  our  progress.  I  think  I  never  admired 
the  scenery  of  the  North  river  so  much  as  I  did 
yesterday;  the  water  was  as  smooth  as  glass 
and  reflected  the  mountains  as  distinctly  as  a 
mirror,  and  the  mountains  themselves  covered 
with  snow  presented  a  much  more  imposing 
effect  than  in  summer — We  landed  first  at  the 
Long  dock,  as  we  had  on  board  some  bales  of 
cotton  for  Matteawan — Phil,  whose  gallantry 
would  hardly  suffer  him  to  allow  me  to  ride  two 
miles  alone,  went  on  shore  to  look  for  a  safe  and 
sober    driver,   and    finding  Mr.    Rogers    there, 


12  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

he  asked  him  to  take  me  home,  which  Mr. 
Rogers  very  poHtely  consented  to  do — See!  how- 
easy  it  is  for  a  poor  helpless  maiden  to  travel 
alone. 

Travellers  from  New  England  even  made 
use  of  the  sloops  to  reach  New  York  by  way 
of  Poughkeepsie.  They  would  travel  across 
the  country  on  the  Dutchess  Turnpike,  a 
famous  road  of  past  days  running  from 
Northern  Connecticut  through  Dutchess 
county  to  Poughkeepsie  and  there  embark 
for  New  York.  The  diary  of  Samuel  Miles 
Hopkins,  who  came  from  Litchfield,  Conn, 
in  1 791  to  practise  law  in  New  York, 
states:  "I  embarked  at  Poughkeepsie  on 
the  good  sloop,  John  Jay  and  soon  saw  the 
wonderftd  city,  the  compact  parts  of  which 
extend  to  St.  Paul's  Church  and  then  up 
Chatham  Street  to  the  Tea  Water  Pump, 
or  nearly."  The  John  Jay  kept  the  river 
as  late  as  1865. 

Frequently,  better  time  was  made  by  the 
sloop  than  by  the  stage-coach,  particularly  in 
the  summer  months,  on  the  passage  to  Albany 


The  Packets  13 

when  the  south  wind  prevailed.  The  packet 
sloops  held  their  own  until  the  steamboats 
were  perfected  which  was  some  time  after 
the  Clermont.  She  was  slow,  and  did  not 
disdain  to  carry  a  sail,  and  the  sloops  and 
schooners  had  no  difficulty  in  passing  her 
when  running  before  the  wind  when  a  speed 
of  eight  to  ten  miles  an  hour  was  attained. 
The  sloop  Caroline  once  sailed  from  New  York 
to  Fishkill  a  distance  of  sixty  miles  in  five 
hours.  She  was  built  about  1820,  by  the 
late  John  Peter  De  Wint,  Esq.,  of  Fishkill 
and  named  in  honor  of  his  daughter,  who 
married  A.  J.  Downing,  the  originator  of 
landscape  architecture  in  the  United  States. 
While  such  a  run  was  unusual,  if  not  un- 
precedented, yet  it  was  often  approached 
by  other  sloops  of  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century.  In  tacking  or  sailing  against  the 
wind,  the  sloops  did  good  work  and  a  speed 
of  five  to  six  miles  an  hour  was  often  reached, 
when  the  tide  was  favorable.  Though  con- 
siderable "sea"  is  kicked  up  when  the  tide 
and  wind  are  in  opposite  directions,  it  was 


14         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

rarely  enough  to  retard  the  larger  sailing 
vessels.  The  sloops  too  could  "beat"  to 
windward  against  the  tide  when  there  was 
a  fresh  breeze.  But  as  a  rule,  when  the 
wind  and  tide  were  unfavorable  they  lay  at 
anchor  until  the  tide  turned,  as  it  does  every 
six  hours. 

As  the  tide  plays  an  important  part 
in  the  navigation  of  the  Hudson  a  few 
words  on  the  subject  may  not  be  amiss. 
Now  the  Hudson  is  an  estuary  or  arm  of 
the  sea,  and  the  tidal  influence  extends  as 
far  up  as  the  State  dam  at  Troy,  above 
which  the  river,  properly  so  called,  may 
be  said  to  begin.  In  the  lower  part  of  the 
Hudson,  and  particularly  at  New  York 
where  filling  in  and  new  piers  on  both  shores 
have  narrowed  the  original  stream  by  half 
a  mile,  the  tide  reaches  a  speed  of  over  three 
miles  per  hour,  while  at  Tappan  Zee,  where 
the  river  is  nearly  four  miles  wide  the  speed 
is  much  lower.  I  refer  to  both  flood-  and 
ebb-tides.  At  Hudson,  which  is  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  up  the  river, 


The  Packets  15 

I  have  seen  the  flood-tide  rush  past  the 
docks  at  a  lively  rate,  which  made  it  hard 
to  tack  against.  But  this  was  during  the 
dry  summer  season  when  the  Hudson's 
tributaries  were  low.  During  the  spring 
freshets  of  the  upper  Hudson  and  Mohawk, 
the  flood-tide  is  checked  in  its  movement 
northward  for  thirty  to  forty  miles  below 
Albany,  so  that  the  effect  of  the  flood- tide 
pressing  upward  from  the  ocean  is  merely 
to  raise  the  level  of  the  surface  of  the  river. 
Further  down,  say  from  Kingston  south- 
ward, the  flood- tide  seems  to  run  at  all 
seasons  nearly  as  fast  as  the  ebb.  The  effect 
of  the  salt  water  from  the  sea  is  completely 
neutralized  at  Poughkeepsie  by  the  fresh 
water  from  above,  and,  there  the  city  pumps 
the  water  from  the  river  into  reservoirs  for 
the  general  use  of  the  inhabitants. 

The  skippers,  or  sailing  masters,  of  the 
sloops  well  understood  the  tide  and  its 
vagaries,  and  there  are  many.  They  knew 
how  to  use  them  when  favorable  and  how 
to  avoid  their  adverse  effects.    For  instance 


i6  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

the  flood-tide  will  "make"  on  some  reaches 
of  the  river,  nearly  an  hour  earlier  on  one 
shore  than  on  the  other,  and  again,  the 
ebb  will  "hang  on"  in  certain  parts  of 
the  river  longer  than  another.  Nor  does  the 
tide  always  run  up  and  down  parallel  to 
or  following  the  trend  of  the  shore  line.  It 
glances  at  the  end  of  a  reach  just  after  the 
river  turns,  thus  causing  the  current  to  be 
deflected  toward  the  opposite  bank  at  an 
angle  of  nearly  forty-five  degrees.  The 
pilots  of  the  steamboats  also  take  advantage 
of  these  eccentricities,  crossing  and  recross- 
ing  the  river  several  times  on  a  trip  between 
Albany  and  New  York. 

I  once  lost  a  race  in  a  regatta  on  New- 
burgh  bay  in  not  fully  knowing  the  local  tide 
movement.  The  yachts  were  beating  down 
to  the  lower  stake  boat  against  a  good  breeze 
on  the  ebb-tide.  There  was  quite  a  sea 
running  in  which  my  boat  was  at  her  best 
but  I  knew  that  a  good  lead  was  necessary, 
as  the  second  boat  was  faster  than  mine 
running   before    the   wind.      I    turned   well 


The  Packets  17 

ahead  of  the  others,  and  squared  away  to 
run  home  before  the  wind,  confident  of 
winning,  but  quite  ignoring  the  direction  of 
the  tide  current  and  thus  lost  the  race,  for 
the  boat,  second  at  the  stake,  followed  a 
course  while  somewhat  longer,  yet  thereby 
avoided  the  strength  of  the  ebb,  and  passed 
the  mark  well  in  the  lead. 

There  is  another  peculiarity  of  the  tide — 
while  it  may  reach  a  speed  of  even  four 
miles  an  hour  at  flood  or  ebb,  the  tide 
"crest"  moves  at  the  rate  of  about  fifteen 
miles  an  hour.  For  example  when  it  is 
high  water  at  New  York  at  noon,  it  will  be 
high  water  at  Newburgh,  sixty  miles  up  the 
river,  at  four  o'clock,  so  that  a  fast  steam- 
boat can  and  does  for  many  weeks,  at  inter- 
vals varying  with  the  moon's  tidal  influence, 
carry  the  flood-tide  all  the  way  to  Albany; 
and  again,  the  same  boat  may  have  the  ebb- 
tide to  contend  with  throughout  the  whole 
of  her  nine-hour  trip  from  New  York  to 
Albany.  Thus,  as  the  boat  proceeds  up 
the  river  at  the  rate  of  say  fifteen  miles 


i8         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

an  hour  she  keeps  in  the  same  stage  of 
the  tide  with  its  retardation  of  about  an 
hour  for  every  fifteen  miles  up  stream. 
The  trip  down  the  river,  on  the  other  hand, 
gives  quite  dissimilar  results,  for  then  a 
steamboat  and  even  a  sailing  vessel,  run- 
ning before  the  wind,  will  encounter  a 
different  tide  about  every  four  hours. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  the  boat  left  Albany 
on  the  middle  of  the  ebb,  by  the  time  Catskill 
was  reached  the  flood  would  be  met,  owing 
to  the  earlier  time  of  high  water  there,  and 
so,  as  the  vessel  passed  down  the  river 
always  going  to  meet  the  tide  as  it  were, 
the  ebb  would  again  be  running  long  before 
the  expiration  of  six  hours.  The  result  of 
this  is  that  the  steamboats  of  the  Day 
Line  between  New  York  and  Albany,  which 
make  the  trip  in  about  nine  hours,  encounter 
but  one  tide  on  the  way  up  and  three  on 
the  way  down. 

When  it  is  high  water  at  New  York  it  is 
low  water  at  Kingston ;  when  on  Newburgh 
bay  the  flood  is  running  at  full  strength, 


The  Packets  19 

at  Albany  it  is  high  water.  The  tide  con- 
tinues to  run  up  for  more  than  an  hour 
after  high  water  and  to  run  down  after  low 
water  for  about  the  same  period.  In  this 
respect  the  Hudson  is  like  other  estuaries. 

So  much  for  the  tide,  and  without  it 
sail-navigation  on  the  Hudson  would  be 
quite  another  affair,  and  the  voyage  to 
Albany  might  indeed  have  taken  a  week  or 
more  in  old  times,  as  one  is  told  was  often 
the  case.  Perhaps  Irving  is  responsible 
for  this  error  as  he  was  for  others  in  regard 
to  the  early  history  of  New  York,  because 
his  facetious  Diedrich  Knickerbocker  seems 
to  have  been  taken  seriously  by  many  of 
its  early  readers.  All  that  concerned  the 
Hudson  was  of  great  interest  to  him,  and 
naturally  the  sloops  came  under  observa- 
tion. In  Dolph  Heyliger  the  departure  of 
one  of  them  for  Albany  is  thus  described : 

He  [Dolph]  was  unconsciously  carried  along 
by  the  impulse  of  the  crowd,  and  found  it  was 
a  sloop  on  the  point  of  sailing  up  the  Hudson 
to  Albany.    There  was  much   leavetaking,  and 


20  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

kissing  of  old  women  and  children,  and  great 
activity  in  carrying  on  board  baskets  of  bread 
and  cakes  and  provisions  of  all  kinds,  notwith- 
standing the  mighty  joints  of  meat  that  dangled 
over  the  stem;  for  a  voyage  to  Albany  was  an 
expedition  of  great  moment  in  those  days.  .  .  . 
I  have  said  that  a  voyage  up  the  Hudson  in 
those  days  was  an  undertaking  of  some  moment ; 
indeed  it  was  as  much  thought  of  as  a  voyage 
to  Europe  is  at  present.  The  sloops  were  often 
many  days  on  the  way;  the  cautious  navigators 
taking  in  sail  when  it  blew  fresh,  and  coming 
to  anchor  at  night,  and  stopping  to  send  the 
boat  ashore  for  milk  for  tea,  without  which  it 
was  impossible  for  the  worthy  old  lady  pas- 
sengers to  subsist,  and  there  were  the  much 
talked  of  perils  of  the  Tappaan  Zee,  and  the 
Highlands.  In  short  a  prudent  Dutch  burgher 
would  talk  of  such  a  voyage  for  months,  and 
even  years,  beforehand;  and  never  undertook 
it  without  putting  his  affairs  in  order,  making 
his  will,  and  having  prayers  said  for  him  in  the 
Low  Dutch  Churches,  .  .  ,  On  the  second 
day  of  the  voyage  they  came  to  the  Highlands. 

The  last  paragraph  is  somewhat  sur- 
prising, for  the  author  previously  tells  us 
that  the  sloop  sailed  early  in  the  morning 
with  a  spanking  breeze  and  favorable  tide, 


The  Packets  21 

and  soon  was  "ploughing  her  way  past 
Spiking  Devil  and  Yonkers,  and  the  tallest 
chimneys  of  the  Manhattoes  had  faded  from 
his  [Dolph's]  view."  Such  a  tide  and  breeze 
would  have  carried  the  slowest  of  sloops 
as  far  as  Kingston  by  sundown,  unless,  of 
course,  there  were  detentions  caused  by  the 
"old  lady  passengers"  sending  ashore  for 
milk.  Later  on  in  the  story  we  are  told 
that  the  Highlands  were  thought 

to  be  under  the  dominion  of  supernatural  and 
mischievous  beings  which  seemed  to  have  taken 
some  pique  against  the  Dutch  colonists.  In 
consequence  of  this  they  have  ever  taken  par- 
ticular delight  in  venting  their  spleen  and 
indulging  their  humors  upon  the  Dutch  skip- 
pers, bothering  them  with  flaws,  head  winds, 
counter-currents  and  all  kinds  of  impediments 
insomuch  that  a  Dutch  navigator  was  always 
obliged  to  be  exceedingly  wary  and  deliberate 
in  his  proceedings;  to  come  to  anchor  at  dusk, 
to  drop  his  peak  or  take  in  sail  whenever  he 
saw  a  swagbellied  cloud  rolling  over  the  moun- 
tains; in  short  to  take  so  many  precautions 
that  he  was  apt  to  be  an  incredible  time  in 
toiling  up  the  river. 

The  evidence  is  quite  convincing  of  the 


22  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

fast  time  that  the  sloops  actually  made  in 
the  voyages  up  and  down  the  river.  By 
taking  the  tide  on  the  first  of  the  flood  with 
a  good  south  wind,  and  leaving  the  Battery 
at,  say  six  o'clock  a.m.,  the  vessel  would  be 
in  Newburgh  bay  at  noon,  and  at  Pough- 
keepsie  by  two  and  Hudson  at  eight  or 
nine.  Unless  the  wind  failed  at  sundown, 
which  is  often  the  case  for  an  hour  or  so, 
rising  afterwards,  Albany  v/ould  be  reached 
easily  early  the  next  morning,  or  twenty- 
four  hours  from  the  time  of  leaving.  This 
run  has  been  made  in  less  time. 

As  the  south  wind  is  apt  to  prevail  in 
summer  the  return  trip  would  experience 
headwinds,  and  assuming  there  were  no 
calms,  the  sloop  could  easily  be  back  in 
New  York  at  the  end  of  four  days,  and  in 
seven  if  calms  prevailed  most  of  the  time. 
But  it  is  very  rare,  if  indeed  it  ever  hap- 
pens, that  there  is  no  breeze  at  any  time  of 
day  or  night.  The  sloops  sailed  at  night, 
unless  the  weather  were  thick,  and  took 
advantage  of  every  turn  of  the  tide. 


The  Packets  23 

From  Cooper,  too,  we  learn  much  of  the 
history  of  the  days  of  the  sloops,  and  he  is 
always  more  accurate  than  Irving  is,  with- 
out being  any  the  less  interesting.  Now 
Cooper  was  a  seaman,  having  served  for 
several  years  in  the  navy  Besides  he  had 
practical  knowledge  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Hudson  and  its  sailing  craft.  I  quote  from 
Afloat  and  Ashore,  chapter  xxx. 

In  1803  the  celebrated  river  we  were  navi- 
gating, though  it  had  all  the  natural  features 
it  possesses  to-day,  was  by  no  means  the  same 
picture  of  moving  life.  The  steamboats  did 
not  appear  on  its  surface  until  four  years  later, 
and  the  journeys  up  and  down  the  river  were 
frequently  a  week  in  length.  In  that  day  the 
passenger  did  not  hurry  on  board  just  as  a  bell 
was  disturbing  the  neighborhood,  bustling  his 
way  through  a  rude  throng  of  porters,  cartmen, 
orangewomen,  and  newsboys  to  save  the  dis- 
tance by  just  a  minute  and  a  half,  but  his 
luggage  was  often  sent  to  the  vessel  the  day 
before;  he  passed  the  morning  in  saying  adieu, 
and  when  he  repaired  to  the  vessel,  it  was  with 
gentlemanlike  leisure,  often  to  pass  hours  on 
board  previous  to  sailing;  and  not  infrequently 
to  hear  the  unwelcome  tidings  that  this  event 


2  4  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

was  deferred  until  the  next  day.  How  different, 
too,  was  the  passage  from  one  in  a  steamboat. 
There  was  no  jostling  of  each  other,  no  scram- 
bling for  places  at  the  table,  no  bolting  of  food, 
no  impertinence  ma  d,  no  swearing  about 

missing  the  Easter  oouthern  boats,  or  the 

Schenectady,  Saratoga,  or  Boston  trains  on  ac- 
count of  a  screw  being  loose,  nor  any  other 
unseemly  manifestation  that  anybody  was  in 
a  hurry — on  the  contrary  wine  and  fruit  were 
provided,  as  if  the  travellers  intended  to  enjoy 
themselves,  and  a  journey  in  that  day  was  a  festa. 
.  .  .  Passages  were  certainly  made  in  twen- 
ty-four hours  in  the  sloops,  but  these  were  the 
exceptions,  a  week  being  much  more  likely  to 
be  the  time  passed  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
beautiful  scenery  of  the  river.  The  vessel 
usually  got  aground,  once  at  least,  and  fre- 
quently several  times  in  a  trip,  and  often  a  day 
or  two  were  thus  delightfully  lost  giving  the 
stranger  an  opportunity  of  visiting  the  sur- 
rounding country.  The  necessity  of  anchoring 
with  a  foul  wind  on  every  opposing  tide,  too, 
increased  these  occasions,  thus  lending  to  the 
excursion  something  of  the  character  of  an  ex- 
ploring expedition.  .  .  .  There  might  have 
been  thirty  sail  in  sight  when  the  Wallingford 
got  fairly  into  the  river,  some  turning  down 
with  a  young  ebb,  making  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles  in  six   hours,   and  others  like  ourselves 


The  Packets  25 

stealing  along  against  it  at  about  the  same  rate. 
Half  a  dozen  of  these  craft  were  quite  near  us, 
and  the  decks  of  most  of  these  which  were 
steering  north  had  parties  including  ladies, 
evidently  proceeding  tc  rr^Springs."  .  .  . 
We  were  soon  coming  c  jp  on  the  quarter 

of  a  sloop  that  had  its  deck-crowded  with  pas- 
sengers of  the  better  class,  while  on  the  fore- 
castle were  several  horses  and  carriages, 
customary  accompaniments  to  such  a  scene  at 
that  day. 

The  skipper  of  the  sloop  as  a  rule  used  a 
long  tiller  for  steering.  The  wheel  was  slow 
in  coming  into  use.  In  beating  to  windward 
he  always  gave  his  boat  a  good  "  full "  and  in 
going  about  he  liked  to  forereach.  How 
the  loose  and  heavy  canvas  of  the  sloop 
flapped  and  roared  w^hile  she  was  in  stays 
and  w^hat  a  cloud  of  lime  dust  arose  from 
the  sails  when  the  first  trips  of  the  season 
were  being  made!  The  sloop  was  "able" 
and  could  carry  sail  in  a  fresh  wind.  To 
shorten  sail  the  taking  in  of  the  topsail 
was  generally  sufficient  and  the  necessity  of 
reefing  was  rare.     To  do  this  the  mainsail 


a6         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

was  lowered  the  required  space,  and  fastened 
securely  at  the  leech  and  hoist  only.  Reef 
points  or  nettles  were  not  always  used,  nor 
were  they  needed  to  prevent  the  loose  can- 
vas from  bulging  out  along  the  boom,  for 
the  "lazy  jacks"  kept  that  part  of  the  sail 
in  place.  As  for  the  jib  it  seldom  had  a 
bonnet,  and  was  carried  full  with  a  reefed 
mainsail,  except  in  thunder  squalls,  which 
generally  struck  the  river  from  the  west- 
ward. Then  the  mainsail  would  be  lowered 
about  half  way  down  and  a  small  part 
of  the  jib  set.  This  was  a  slouchy  reef  to 
be  sure,  but  it  was  surprising  how  well  it 
served  its  purpose  and  what  good  windward 
work  the  sloop  would  make  under  it. 

I  well  remember  the  Illinois,  when  she 
was  owned  in  Newburgh  in  1868,  and  was 
said  to  be  fifty  years  old.  Old  boatmen 
said  she  had  been  a  packet  sloop  in  younger 
days,  having  been  built  in  Newburgh,  but 
when  I  first  recall  her  she  was  carrying 
lumber  between  Albany  and  Newburgh. 
Many  a  gay  party  have  I  taken  part  in  when 


The  Packets  27 

this  sloop  was  chartered  for  a  day's  excur- 
sion on  the  river,  or  by  moonlight.  The 
broad,  clean  deck  covered  by  an  awning 
made  a  capital  place  for  dancing  or  games. 
Small  boats  were  carried  so  that  we  might 
go  ashore  at  the  many  different  points  of 
interest  along  the  banks.  The  Illinois  was 
lost  off  Point  Judith.  When  she  was  a 
packet  sloop  her  captain  was  Elijah,  the 
father  of  George  D.  Woolsey,  whose  reminis- 
cences follow. 

The  Illinois  was  painted  with  stripes  of 
somewhat  gaudy  colors,  as  was  the  fashion 
of  the  times,  but  not  so  elaborately  as  the 
Nyack  sloops.  They  were  very  smart  in 
their  appearance  and  good  sailers  too,  for 
now  and  then,  as  they  passed  through 
Newburgh  bay  on  the  way  up  or  down  the 
river,  they  would  try  conclusions  with  our 
home  sloops  and  sometimes  worst  them. 
The  Illinois  carried  but  three  sails,  main- 
sail, jib,  and  topsail.  The  latter  was  at- 
tached to  the  topmast  by  hoops  like  the 
mainsail,   and   sheeted   out   to   the  end   of 


28  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

the  gaff.  There  was  no  "club"  to  it,  nor 
did  it  set  much  flatter  than  the  mainsail 
or  jib.  It  seems  to  have  been  the  idea  of 
the  old  time  sail-makers  that  a  certain 
amount  of  "bag"  was  an  advantage  and 
some  of  the  sailing  masters  and  skippers 
shared  this  error.  They  would  occasionally 
declare  that  a  flat  sail  did  not  hold  the 
wind  and  that  it  was  better  to  have  the 
leech  shortened  so  as  to  give  the  rest  of 
the  sail  room  to  belly  out  a  little,  and  this 
was  quite  compatible  with  their  ideas  of 
keeping  the  sail  "rap"  full,  when  beating 
to  windward,  and  never  "pinching." 

The  result  of  this  was  that  the  old  sloops 
did  not  point  as  high  as  the  modem  yacht 
with  her  flat  sails,  yet  she  went  through  the 
water  at  a  good  pace  so  that  when  she  went 
into  stays  to  go  about  on  the  other  tack  she 
forereached  several  times  her  own  length, 
though  often  losing  a  good  deal  of  her  way 
in  so  doing.  But  as  the  jib  was  used  to  aid 
in  putting  the  boat  on  the  other  tack  the 
older  skippers  could  not  be  made  to  see  that 


The  Packets  29 

what  they  gained  to  windward  in  being 
several  minutes  in  stays  was  much  more 
than  lost  in  the  speed  and  momentum  that 
the  new  yacht  retains  in  going  on  the  other 
tack  at  once.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
reproof  that  I  once  got  as  a  boy  from  an 
experienced  old  skipper  of  New  Hamburgh 
after  a  race  of  small  sloops  and  catboats. 
Said  he : 

Why   the   did    you    always    put    your 

"helem"  over  so  hard  when  you  went  about. 
I  seen  you  do  it  over  and  over  agin,  and  now 
after  all  our  scrapin',  and  pot  leadin'  her  bottom, 
and  tightenin'  the  leech  you  've  lost  the  race. 
Why  did  n't  you  let  her  go  'round  easy  and  not 
slam  your  rudder  over  as  if  it  was  a  barn  door 
on  a  cold  day.  Gosh,  Willie,  I  thought  you  knew 
better  nor  that.  But  you  worked  the  tide  right 
this  time,  in  crossin'  the  river  at  Danskammer 
P'int,  and  not  fightin'  the  ebb,  as  most  of  the 
others  done  by  huggin'  the  east  shore. 

The  Mohican^  had  been  a    famous   sloop, 
albeit   she   fell   to   carrying  limestone   from 
»  See  List  of  Vessels;  page  94.  — .  W.  E.  V. 


30  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

the  quarries  at  Maiden  to  the  blast  fur- 
naces that  formerly  were  places  of  activity 
along  the  river  for  reducing  the  ores  of 
Dutchess  and  Orange  counties.  At  Cold 
Spring,  Poughkeepsie,  and  Peekskill  there 
were  several  such  thirty  years  ago.  To-day 
they  are  in  ruins,  for  these  industries  could 
not  compete  with  the  newer  ones  of  Penn- 
sylvania and  the  Southern  States  where  the 
coal  and  the  ores  are  close  together.  How 
brilliantly  the  sky  was  illuminated  at  night 
on  Newburgh  bay  when  the  furnace  at  Kaal 
Rock^  Poughkeepsie,  or  at  Cold  Spring  was 
opened. 

One  afternoon  I  was  on  the  Samsondale 
beating  down  the  river  from  Poughkeepsie 
against  a  south  wind.  We  were  light.  The 
captain  expected  to  get  a  load  at  Sherman's 
Dock,  Newburgh.  As  we  passed  New  Ham- 
burgh the  Mohican  was  getting  under  way 
bound  for  Fort  Montgomery.  She  was 
standing   toward   the   Reef   buoy,  and  was 

>  From  the  Dutch  word  "  Kallen."  Vessels  were 
formerly  hailed  here. — W.  E.  V. 


The  Packets  31 

soon  near  us.  The  wind  freshened  as  we 
passed  the  reef,  and  the  "sea"  began  to 
get  up  under  the  ever-increasing  tide  and 
a  wind  that  now  had  a  sweep  of  nearly 
ten  miles  up  the  bay.  The  waves  were 
dashing  over  the  deck  forward  of  the  mast, 
and  the  foot  of  the  jib  was  wet  with  spray. 
This  gave  the  Mohican  a  slight  advantage 
over  our  boat.  It  was  nip  and  tuck  be- 
tween us  until  we  got  to  the  middle  of 
Newburgh  bay  where  the  wind  had  become 
a  reefing  breeze  and  the  ebb-tide  had 
kicked  up  a  sea  that  made  the  ferry-boat 
roll  as  she  crossed  back  and  forth  in  the 
trough.  It  was  then  that  the  Mohican 
began  to  forge  ahead,  and  she  crossed 
our  bow  before  we  put  in  at  Sherman's 
Dock.  We  were  indeed  disgusted  and 
our  captain  was  full  of  reasons  to  explain 
the  defeat.  I  had  felt  confident  that  we 
would  win,  though  realizing  that  the  Mohi- 
can was  a  fast  boat.  Neither  of  us  carried 
topsails  the  last  hour;  they  had  to  be  taken 
in   soon   after   passing  Danskammer   Point 


(/ 


32  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

(the  Devil's  Dance  Chamber  made  famous 
by  Irving).  How  the  topsails  ballooned 
out  when  they  were  first  lowered  to  the 
crosstrees! — and  it  took  some  time  to  clew 
them  down. 

The  North  River  sloop  when  running 
directly  before  the  wind  was  at  her  worst. 
The  jib  hung  idle  and  useless,  lazily  flapping 
from  time  to  time,  for  there  was  no  effort 
made  to  throw  it  out  opposite  the  mainsail 
as  is  done  with  the  spinnaker  of  a  yacht,  and 
with  her  long  boom  well  out  toward  the 
shrouds  it  was  inevitable  that  she  would 
steer  hard  and  have  a  tendency  to  yaw  and 
><^  luff.  Jibing  occasionally  became  necessary, 
.  even  though  the  wind  held  steady.  The 
many  reaches  of  the  river  run  in  somewhat 
different  directions  so  that  the  captain  had 
to  change  his  mainsail  from  one  side  to  the 
other  as  he  sailed  up  or  down  stream  before 
the  wind.  To  do  this  successfully  in  a  fresh 
wind  was  a  feat  requiring  no  little  skill, 
for  the  big  booms  were  from  seventy-five 
to   ninety    feet   in   length    and   were   they 


The  Packets  33 

allowed  to  "fetch  up"  suddenly  the  mast 
would  be  apt  to  be  carried  away.  To  obviate 
this  danger,  the  sailing  master  would  put 
his  helm  hard  up  and  keep  it  there  until  the 
vessel  was  at  an  angle  of  nearly  forty-five 
degrees  to  her  course,  then  the  big  mainsail 
would  take  the  wind  on  the  other  side  and 
begin  to  swing  around  dragging  the  loose] 
mainsheet  with  it.  all  the  while  gaining  * 
velocity.  For  a  few  moments  you  think 
there  is  going  to  be  a  big  smash,  especially 
when  the  boom  passes  over  the  taffrail 
with  a  roar.  But  no.  ^Q£_the  s^ip^Bgf  has 
kept  his  helm^hard  up" all  the  while  and  the 
big  sloop  has  turned  more  and  more  so  that 
before  the  mainsheet  is  taut  again,  the  wind 
has  caught  the  mainsail  on  the  other  side 
and  it  is  all  aluff .  The  helm  is  then  thrown 
^  *  to  the  opposite  side,  the  jib  hauled  to  wind- 
'  ward,  and  the  sloop  is  on  her  course  again. 

The  schooner  has  a  decided  advantage 
in  running  before  the  wind,  for  then  the 
foresail  is  thrown  out  opposite  the  main- 
sail wing  and  wing  and    jibing   is    not    so 


34  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

difficult;  but  when  it  becomes  necessary, 
the  peak  of  the  mainsail  has  to  be  low- 
ered when  the  wind  is  fresh,  for  the 
tactics  of  jibing  a  sloop  cannot  be  fol-  ^ 
lowed.  The  two-master  began  to  be  a 
favorite  rig  on  the  river  in  the  late  sixties. 
In  some  instances  sloops  were  altered  into 
schooners.  The  old  sloop  Milan  of  Rondout, 
for  instance,  had  capsized  ofif  Cornwall  in 
a  fresh  southeaster  when  carrying  a  cargo 
of  flagstone,  and  was  aftenvards  raised  and 
appeared  as  a  schooner  under  the  name  of 
George  Hurst. 

The  North  River  schooner  differed  greatly 
from  the  "Down  East"  schooner  that 
formerly  sailed  up  the  river  for  coal  as  far 
as  Newburgh,  or  Rondout  where  the  Dela- 
ware and  Hudson  canal  reached  the  river. 
These  vessels,  especially  when  light,  were 
clumsy  looking  craft  with  their  blunt  bows 
and  bowsprits  pointed  high.  How  sluggish 
they  were  compared  with  the  North  River 
vessels.  We  used  to  say  of  them  that  they 
were  built  by  the  mile  and  sawn  off  to  suit, 


The  Packets  35 

so  devoid  of  lines  or  models  were  they. 
Yet  these  "Down  Rasters"  could  sail  well 
when  in  their  element.  The  North  River 
schooner  was  built  on  somewhat  the  same 
plan  as  the  sloop,  having  a  centre  board,  and 
her  bowsprit  carried  out  almost  horizontal, 
and  one  head-sail,  the  single  jib,  attached  to 
a  jib-boom,  as  with  the  sloop.  ^  She  carried 
no  foretopmast.  The  skippers  contented 
themselves  with  a  maintopsail  only  and 
set  it  like  the  sloop's.  The  foresail  was  of 
good  size  compared  with  the  mainsail  and 
not  a  mere  "ribbon"  such  as  the  racing 
schooner  yacht  now  carries.  The  quarter- 
deck was  replaced  in  the  later  schooners  by 
a  trunk  cabin,  lighted  from  the  side  and  end, 
affording  smaller  and  less  pleasant  accommo- 
dations than  those  below  the  quarter-decks 
of  the  old  packet  sloops  with  their  large 
windows  for  light  and  air  at  the  stern. 

The   Greene   County  Tanner  was   a   good 
example  of  an  old   North  River  schooner. 

«  A  few  of  the  later  schooners  carried  a  flying-jib. — 
W.  E.  V. 


36         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

She  was  built  at  Catskill  in  1832  and  had 
been  a  sloop  in  her  earlier  days.  I  well 
remember  her  as  she  passed  through  New- 
burgh  bay  or  at  other  points  along  the 
river  on  her  frequent  trips,  carrying  dif- 
ferent sorts  of  cargoes,  for  as  time  went  on 
her  owners  became  less  particular  as  to 
what  was  put  aboard  of  her.  She  was  often 
engaged  in  the  flagstone  trade — large  quan- 
tities of  the  stone  being  quarried  in  Ulster 
and  Greene  counties.  The  latter  county 
gave  the  boat  her  name  and  freights, 
for  it  was  the  home  of  the  industry  of  tan- 
ning hides  with  the  bark  of  hemlock  and 
so  energetically  was  it  carried  on  that  the 
trees  are  well-nigh  exterminated. 

It  was  the  morning  after  the  assassination 
of  President  Lincoln  when  I  first  recollect 
this  schooner.  I  was  in  a  rowboat  with 
my  father  who  was  rowing  to  Newburgh  from 
our  place  on  the  opposite  shore  about  three 
miles  north.  It  was  Saturday  and  there 
was  no  school.  The  wind  was  from  the 
south  and  the  tide  on  the  last  of  the  ebb, 


The  Packets  37 

as  we  reached  the  channel.  Being  a  mere 
lad  I  was  set  at  steering,  and  felt  very  im- 
portant when  I  reported  a  schooner  ap- 
proaching. Her  mainsheet  was  dragging 
in  the  water  so  light  was  the  wind,  and  jib 
and  foresail  stood  fiat  and  lifeless.  We 
passed  close  under  her  stern  and  I  read  her 
name  as  the  sailing  master  shouted  to  us 
the  news  of  the  appalling  tragedy  at  Wash- 
ington on  the  night  before.  I  can  see  the 
schooner  now  as  she  swung  slowly  around 
when  the  skipper  left  the  wheel  and  ran  to 
the  end  of  the  taffrail  to  tell  us  all  that  he 
knew  of  the  details  of  the  murder. 

•  The  schooners  were  not  as  good  in  wind- 
ward work  as  the  sloop,  but  with  a  fair  or 
beam  wind  they  were  faster.  The  rig,  how- 
ever, soon  commended  itself,  for  the  sloop 
with  her  long  boom,  tall  mast,  and  heavy 
mainsail  was  difficult  to  handle  at  all  times 
and  especially  in  a  blow  and  required  a  crew 
of  six  men  to  the  schooner's  four.  The 
first  of  the  schooners  were  converted  sloops, 
from  which  many  of  the  larger  ones  were 


38  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

changed  to  save  expense  of  operation. 
Later,  about  1865  there  was  built  a  new 
type  of  schooner  for  the  Hudson  which 
though  rigged  the  same  was  a  wider  and 
shallower  boat  thus  giving  her  greater 
carrying  capacity  and  permitting  all  the 
cargo  to  be  placed  on  deck  for  expedition 
in  loading  and  unloading.  She  was  quite 
sharp  forward,  which — with  other  good  points 
in  her  model — made  her  a  good  sailer.  Of 
this  type  was  the  Robert  A.  Forsythe  of 
Newburgh,  between  which  place  and  Albany 
she  plied  as  a  carrier  of  lumber.  The  Wm. 
A.  Ripley  of  Low  Point  on  Newburgh  bay 
was  another  schooner  of  somewhat  the  same 
style  and  rig.  The  Ripley  was  built  at 
Newark,  N.  J.,  in  1874  and  was  sixty-nine 
feet  in  length  and  twenty-two  feet  beam. 
Her  carrying  capacity  was  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  tons.  Her  captain  was 
Robert  S.  Collyer.  ^ 

The    packets    had    virtually    disappeared 

>  The  Uriah  F.  Washburn,  built  by  Jacob  Woolsey  at 
Tompkins  Cove  in  1 866,  was  undoubtedly  the  best  ex- 


The  Packets  39 

when  the  schooner  began  to  be  a  favorite 
rig,  and  none  of  them  so  far  as  I  know  ever 
ran  as  a  packet  boat  for  passengers. 

The  sloop  in  the  early  days  was  a  sea- 
goer,  making  voyages  to  the  West  Indies; 
even  the  North  River  and  Sound  sloops 
ventured  so  far  amain.  A  sea-going  sloop 
of  my  early  boyhood  that  joined  the  com- 
pany of  North  River  vessels  was  the  old 
Benjamin  Franklin.  She  had  been  built 
in  Huntington,  Long  Island,  in  1836  for 
the  trade  between  New  Bedford  and  the 
West  Indies,  taking  out  cattle  and  fetching 
molasses  back.  Her  length  was  sixty-five 
feet  and  her  beam  twenty-one  and  her 
capacity  eighty-five  tons;  a  small  vessel  for 
such  a  trade  we  would  account  her  to-day. 
She  was  owned  at  one  time  by  John  Van 

ample  of  these  modern  schooners.  Her  captain  was 
James  Monahan,  who  sailed  her  for  1 7  years,  and  is 
now  first  pilot  of  the  steamer  City  of  Newburgh  of  the 
Central  Hudson  Steamboat  Co.  This  schooner  was 
built  for  the  Washburn  Bros.,  brick-makers  of  Glasco- 
on- Hudson,  and  she  now  hails  from  Perth  Amboy, 
N.  J.  Her  carrying  capacity  was  about  200  tons. — 
W.  E.  V. 


40  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Keuren  of  Poughkeepsie,  who  sold  her  in 
1864  to  the  late  John  L.  Collyer  while  he  was 
living  at  Tivoli,  then  known  as  Upper  Red 
Hook.  But  afterwards  her  owner  moved 
to  Low  Point,  now  Chelsea,  on  Newburgh  bay. 
Although  much  like  other  sloops  of  the 
time,  she  had  some  features  that  were  dif- 
ferent. There  was  more  free-board  and  her 
bow  was  blunter.  In  her  younger  days 
she  had  carried  a  large  topsail  but  when  I 
knew  her  she  contented  herself  with  only 
two  sails.  In  fact  the  sloops  began  to  dis- 
pense with  topsails  when  wages  got  high 
after  the  Civil  War,  for  they  were  dif- 
ficult to  handle  and  required  an  extra 
man.  But  the  Benjamin  Franklin  was  a 
fast  sailer  and  under  her  lessened  canvas, 
when  the  wind  blew  fresh  from  the  south 
and  the  ebb-tide  had  kicked  up  a  sea,  it  was 
then  that  she  was  in  her  element  and  could 
show  the  way  to  many  of  the  fast  sloops  of 
the  river. ^ 

>  The  flood-tide  and  northeast  wind  make  a  greater 
sea  on  the  Newburgh  bay. — W.  E.  V. 


The  Packets  41 

J.  L.  CoUyer  had  previously  owned  and 
sailed  the  First  Effort,  a  packet  sloop  sailing 
between  Red  Hook  and  New  York,  and 
later  he  owned  the  sloop  Perseverance. 
This  was  before  the  Hudson  River  railroad 
was  built  when  the  only  other  means  of 
communication  along  the  river  was  the 
stage-coach  over  the  Albany  post-road,  a 
slow  and  uncomfortable  journey.  J.  L. 
Collyer  was  a  brother  of  the  late  Thomas 
CoUyer  who  in  his  younger  days  was  a  sloop 
builder  and  afterwards  with  Daniel  Drew 
built  the  Hudson  River  steamboats  Daniel 
Drew,  Armenia,  and  others. 

When  the  steamboat  began  to  take  pas- 
sengers away  from  the  packet  sloops  they 
became  in  turn  "market  boats."  Their 
business  consisted  of  taking  on  produce 
at  points  along  the  river  and  selling  it  on 
arrival  at  New  York,  carrying  back  dry- 
goods,  etc.  Such  a  trip  from  say  Catskill 
or  Kingston  was  completed  in  ten  to  twelve 
days, — Captain  John  L.  Collyer  maintained 
such  a  line  from  Tivoli   for  several  years. 


42  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

This  business  was  in  turn  absorbed  by 
large  double  deck  barges  towed  by  steam- 
boats. The  barges  were  fitted  with  sleeping 
accommodations,  and  many  trips  have  I 
made  on  them.  The  bleating  of  the  calves 
and  sheep  from  the  lower  regions  of  the 
boat  was  not  conducive  to  sleep.  Many 
of  these  barges  still  survive  here  and  there 
along  the  upper  river.  The  propellers  and 
side-wheelers  of  the  Hudson  River  com- 
panies now  control  this  large  and  lucrative 
business. 

The  Middle  Grounds  of  the  Upper  Hud- 
son were  a  vexation  to  the  early  navigators, 
and  they  still  perplex  the  inexperienced,  al- 
beit they  are  now  marked  with  lights,  buoys, 
black  and  red.  These  sunken  shoals  con- 
ceal no  rocks.  Did  they  do  so  the  "bones" 
of  many  vessels  would  now  be  found  on 
them.  These  shoals  are  flats  of  mud  and 
sand,  and  at  high  tide  are  covered  by  three 
to  four  feet  of  water,  enough  to  conceal  the 
sedge  grass  or  water  weeds  that  grow  there, 
and  which,  at  low  water,  are  plainly  seen 


The  Packets  43 

only  when  full  grown  at  midsummer.  How 
easy  it  was  to  run  on  them,  there  to  lie  with 
your  keel  in  the  soft  mud  until  the  tide 
fell  and  rose  again,  unless  perchance  you 
went  on  at  low  water.  But  more  likely 
it  would  be  at  high  water  while  running  up 
the  river  before  a  strong  southerly  wind. 
Before  it  was  possible  to  change  your  course 
your  boat  was  in  shoal  water  and  refused 
to  answer  her  helm  and  soon  you  were  hard 
aground. 

Vessels  have  been  known  to  go  on  so 
hard  and  fast  that  they  had  to  be  dug 
off,  even  after  removing  the  cargo.  A 
schooner  from  Long  Island  went  on  the 
Middle  Grounds  in  the  Livingston  channel 
just  above  Tivoli  about  forty  years  ago 
and  lay  there  nearly  a  month,  and  was 
finally  released  at  great  expense.  But  it 
was  seldom  that  the  sloops  were  caught  in 
this  way,  so  familiar  were  their  skippers 
with  the  river,  its  shoals,  reefs,  and  tides. 
The  Middle  Grounds  are  in  the  upper  Hud- 
son where  the  water  is  always  fresh.    They 


44  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

begin  a  short  distance  south  of  Kingston 
Point  near  the  Esopus  lighthouse,  and 
extend  all  the  way  to  Albany  in  perplexing 
irregularity.  Between  Catskill  and  Cox- 
sackie  there  are  several  baffling  ones.  For- 
merly there  were  two  channels  between 
Hudson  and  Albany  with  a  chain  of  islands 
and  Middle  Grounds  occupying  the  centre 
of  the  river.  They  are  shown  on  an  old 
map  which  I  have,  made  in  1810,  and  which 
is  called  "Hudson's  River  from  Sandy 
Hook  to  Sandy  Hill" — a  point  north  of 
Saratoga  where  the  river  turns  sharply  to 
the  west.  The  dredging  and  diking  oper- 
ations of  the  Federal  Government  have 
since  resulted  in  a  single  and  well  marked 
channel  below  Albany. 

There  was  formerly  a  picturesque  sight 
which  was  occasionally  seen  before  the 
passing  of  the  sail  from  the  Hudson.  This 
was  the  fleet  of  sloops  and  schooners,  twenty- 
five  to  thirty  in  number,  which  the  preva- 
lence of  heavy  westerly  winds  brought 
together  at  the  south  end  of  the  Highlands. 


The  Packets  45 

With  such  winds  vessels  leaving  New  York 
and  bound  up  the  river  would  reach  Jones 
Point  off  the  Dunderberg  to  find  it  impos- 
sible to  pass  through  the  Race.  ^  Here  the 
river's  turn  to  the  westward  would  cause 
the  wind  to  be  dead  ahead,  and  as  the  flood- 
tides  had  been  so  weakened  by  the  prev- 
alence of  such  winds,  it  would  not  be  pos- 
sible for  the  vessels  to  proceed  farther  and 
thus  they  assembled  as  they  came  up  from 
below. 

It  was  near  this  point  that  Captain  Kidd's 
treasure  ship  was  supposed  to  have  sunk 
and  for  years  fruitless  efforts  were  made  to 
find  her.  Old  boatmen  have  told  me  that 
as  many  as  fifty   vessels  would   be  wind- 


t  The  Race  extends  from  the  southeastern  end  of 
the  Dunderberg  to  Anthony's  Nose  in  the  Highlands. 
Washington  Irving  jocosely  accounts  for  the  name  by 
saying  that  one  morning  as  the  sun  rose  over  the 
mountains  its  rays  glanced  from  the  rubicund  nose  of 
the  redoubtable  Anthony  Van  Corlears  who  was  on  the 
deck  of  a  sloop  on  a  voyage  to  Fort  Orange,  and  killed 
a  sturgeon  that  was  swimming  near  the  surface.  The 
fame  of  this  event  was  so  great  that  the  promontory 
was  ever  afterwards  known  as  Anthony's  Nose. — W.E.V. 


46  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

bound  here.  When  the  southerly  wind 
came  at  last  or  the  flood-tide  reasserted 
itself  the  boats  all  started,  slowly  growing 
apart  as  the  faster  ones  began  to  draw 
away  from  the  others.  Still  it  would  take 
an  hour  or  more  before  the  fleet  was  dis- 
banded. By  the  time  Newburgh  bay, 
twenty  miles  above,  was  reached  the 
vessels  would  be  strung  out  into  a  line 
a   mile  or  more  long. 

Among  the  sloops  of  Fishkill  on  New- 
burgh bay  were  the  Commodore  Jones, 
and  the  New  Jersey,  which  were  owned  by 
the  late  Thomas  Aldridge,  who  had  extensive 
brickyards  at  Dutchess  Junction.  The  cap- 
tain of  the  Jones  was  John  Paye  of  Fish- 
kill.  He  is  now  a  brick  manufacturer, 
for  he  retired  from  boating  long  since,  but 
is  fond  of  relating  his  experiences  on  the 
river  in  past  days.  He  began  sailing  the 
river  before  he  was  twenty,  and  became 
the  skipper  of  the  Commodore  Jones  over 
fifty  years  ago.  She  was  the  fastest  sloop 
above    the    Highlands   and    has   made   the 


The  Packets  47 

record  for  the  round  trip  to  New  York  and 
return  from  Fishkill.  She  was  built  at 
Derby,  Conn.,  in  1835.  Her  companion 
sloop  the  New  Jersey  was  built  in  1830. 
Other  sailing  vessels  of  Fishkill  were  the 
sloop  Delaware,  of  which  Larrie  Flarrety 
was  captain,  and  the  schooner  Thomas 
Jefferson,  afterwards  called  the  Carrie  Mc- 
Lean. The  Commodore  Jones,  like  other 
sloops  and  schooners  of  the  Hudson,  was 
registered  at  the  U.  S.  Custom  House  in 
New  York.  Her  capacity  was  one  hundred 
tons,  though  the  registered  tonnage  was 
considerably  less.  Captain  Paye  assures 
me  that  he  once  made  the  run  from  New 
York  to  Denning's  Point  (on  Newburgh 
bay),  fifty-eight  miles  up,  in  four  and  one 
half  hours  with  the  schooner  Harriet  Ann. 
Once,  in  1868,  he  left  Hamilton  Ferry, 
Brooklyn,  with  the  sloop  Commodore  Jones 
at  nine  p.m.,  wind  east-northeast,  went 
to  Fishkill,  and  was  back  at  Hamilton  Ferry 
at  eight  p.m.  next  day.  Of  the  twenty-three 
hours'  interval,  four  were  spent  in  loading. 


48  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

The  usual  time  required  for  a  sloop  or  a 
schooner  to  beat  down  to  New  York  from 
Fishkill  or  Newburgh  was  "two  ebbs"  and 
"one  flood"  as  the  boatmen  put  it.  The 
vessels  w^ould  get  underway  at  high  water, 
when  they  could  pass  off  the  Flats  fully 
loaded,  thence  with  the  favoring  ebb  they 
passed  down  through  the  Highlands,  and 
Verplanck's  Point  was  reached  in  about 
five  hours.  The  flood-tide  would  now  be 
encountered,  but  even  though  the  wind  was 
light  good  headway  could  be  made  against 
it  by  keeping  on  the  Croton  Flats  with  the 
centreboard  half  down.  Thence  they  passed 
into  Tappan  Zee  and  over  on  to  the  Nyack 
Flats  to  avoid  the  strength  of  the  flood. 
By  the  time  Piermont  was  reached  the 
ebb-tide  had  again  begun  to  make,  and 
with  it  New  York  was  reached  in  about 
five  hours  more.  In  other  words  the  trip 
from  Fishkill  against  the  wind  was  made 
in  fifteen  or  sixteen  hours.  With  wind 
abeam  or  fair,  the  run  was  made  in  half 
the  time.    The  sloops  always  sailed  at  night 


The  Packets  49 

unless  wind  or  tide  was  unfavorable.  Dur- 
ing periods  of  calm,  there  were  occasionally 
"land"  breezes  at  night,  that  is,  currents 
of  air  that  drew  strongly  from  the  shore 
toward  the  river.  Off  the  Palisades  or 
the  "Rocks"  as  the  boatmen  called  them, 
there  is  at  times  a  decided  land  breeze  of 
this  sort  which  was  always  observed  and 
taken  advantage  of  by  the  skippers.  While 
it  had  been  quite  calm  all  over  the  river 
through  the  day  and  early  part  of  the  night 
during  the  summer  months,  in  the  "small 
hours"  these  breezes  would  rise  and  carry 
a  vessel  for  several  miles. 

The  flood- tides  in  the  Lower  Hudson,  so 
the  boatmen  declare,  have  tricks  that  are 
hard  to  account  for.  They  will  tell  you 
that  the  tide  sometimes  rises  while  the 
current  is  running  down  on  the  surface,  and 
that  a  deeply  laden  vessel  will  feel  the  influ- 
ence of  the  current  moving  up  while  the  light 
vessel  is  held  back  by  the  surface  current  mov- 
ing in  the  opposite  direction,  and  this  they 
declare  is  not  dependent  upon  the  wind.    The 


so  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

moon's  position  with  relation  to  the  earth  has 
of  course  a  marked  effect  upon  the  tide  as 
is  well  known.  Thus  the  tides  are  apt  to 
run  low  when  the  moon  is  in  Apogee,  "Pogy 
Tides"  as  they  are  called  in  New  England, 
while  when  the  moon  is  near  the  earth  or  in 
Perigee  the  tides  are  apt  to  run  higher.  On 
Newburgh  bay  I  have  heard  the  boatmen 
speak  of  these  moons  as  "Pear  Tree"  and 
"Apple  Tree"  moons,  and  of  "Witch  Tides." 
By  this  they  meant  a  slow  flood.  Now  and 
then  along  the  river  when  progress  was  slow 
and  there  were  three  or  four  days  of  calm 
weather,  on  a  still  night  when  not  more 
than  four  or  five  miles  would  be  made  on 
one  tide,  and  the  vessels  would  drift  to- 
gether, and  oftentimes  foul  each  other, 
particularly  in  the  Highlands,  the  conversa- 
tion between  the  captains  would  be  like 
this: 

Captain  of  Benj.  Franklin — "Well,  this  is 
very  slow,  getting  up.  I  have  only  drifted  ten 
miles  in  the  last  two  tides  (twenty-four 
hours)." 


1 


% 


The  Packets  51 

Captain  of  Sam'l  Marsh  ^ — "Yes,  Captain 
John,  we  are  having  'Witch  Tides.'  The  moon 
is  in  the  '  Apple  Tree '  and  tides  is  running  poor. 
No  floods.    No  wind." 

Captain  of  Benj.  Franklin — "  I  guess  to-mor- 
row the  flood  will  bring  a  good  breeze  of  south 
wind.  I  see  the  cobwebs  hanging  in  the  rigging." 

Captain  of  Sam'l  Marsh — "  I  hope  so.  I  have 
been  three  days  getting  up  from  New  York  to 
the  Highlands." 

And  the  next  day  a  good  south  wind  would 
come. 

The  old  sloops  were  formerly  furnished  with 
long  oars  known  as '  *  sweeps  "  which  were  used, 
particularly  in  the  Highlands,  during  calms  to 
to  prevent  the  vessels  being  run  ashore  by  the 
tide,  for  the  currents  there  are  swift  and  at 
certain  places  would  throw  a  sloop  on  the 
rocks  were  she  not  kept  off.  But  in  later 
years  the  sweeps  were  done  away  with  and 
the  yawl  boat  used  to  keep  the  sloop  on  her 
course  by  towing  when  the  wind  failed. 

•  Her  captain  was  John  Ward  of  Cornwall,  a  brother 
of  the  champion  oarsmen. — W.  E.  V. 


52  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

The  upper  end  o[  the  Highlands  from 
Cold  Spring  to  Stoitn  King^  is  called  the 
"Worragut,"  a  corruption,  perhaps,  of  the  old 
Dutch  name.  On  this  reach,  especially  when 
the  wind  is  westerly  in  the  spring  and  fall  of 
the  year,  there  is  apt  to  be  a  gale  which 
draws  down  from  PoUopel  Island  past 
Crow's  Nest  to  Little  Stony  Point.  The 
wind  at  this  point  is  directly  down  the 
river  and  sometimes  attains  a  high  velocity, 
so  much  so  that  the  sloops  and  schooners 
often  have  to  run  under  bare  poles,  with  all 
sails  lashed  down.  In  1824  the  packet  sloop 
Nephme  of  Newburgh  was  capsized  here  by  a 
flaw  while  beating  up  the  river  and  thirty- 
five  passengers  were  drowned. 

Owing  to  the  tide  being   earlier  in   the 

•  Formerly  Butter  Hill  with  Breakneck  on  the  op- 
posite bank.  The  name  was  changed  at  the  instance 
of  the  late  N.  P.  Willis,  whose  country  seat,  Idlewild, 
was  at  its  base  near  Moodna  Creek,  formerly  Murder- 
er's Creek,  a  change  also  made  at  Mr.  Willis's  sugges- 
tion. Newburgh  bay  begins  at  this  point  and  extends 
northward  to  beyond  Danskammer  Point,  a  distance 
of  about  1 2  miles.  On  this  reach  the  river  has  a  width 
of  over  a  mile. — W.  E.  V. 


CAPTAIN    JOHN    PAYE   OF    FISHKILL 
From  a  photograph  by  Cramer,  Matteawan,  N.  Y. 


The  Packets  53 

East  River  than  the  North,  a  sailing  vessel 
can  run  down  the  East  River  on  the  first 
of  the  ebb,  round  the  Battery  and  find  the 
flood  still  running  in  the  North;  or  she  can 
go  down  the  North  River  on  the  last  of  the 
ebb  round  the  Battery  and  take  the  flood- 
tide  which  will  then  be  running  in  the 
East  River. 

A  sailing  master  of  long  experience  fur- 
nishes this  information: 

Down  river  with  head  winds — With  a  good 
full-sail  breeze  of  head  wind  from  Catskill  to 
New  York  it  would  take  the  average  vessel, 
sloop  or  schooner  about  five  ebb-tides  to  beat 
down.  Up  river  with  head  winds — I  have  come 
around  the  Battery  several  times  about  six  p.m. 
at  nearly  high  slack  water  with  the  wind  north- 
west by  west  (which  is  one  of  the  best  head 
winds  to  beat  up  the  river  with).  Beat  a  full 
ebb-tide  out,  took  the  first  of  the  flood  about 
Piermont  and  went  to  Low  Point  on  that  tide. 
That  would  be  called  beating  from  New  York 
to  Low  Point  in  one  flood  tide. 

This  captain  added  that  the  longest  time 


54  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

he  ever  took  to  reach  the  upper  end  of  New- 
burgh  bay  from  New  York  was  five  days 
which  was  due  to  being  wind  bound  at  the 
south  end  of  the  Highlands.  ^  One  of  the 
shortest  round  trips  was  that  of  the  Hen- 
rietta Collyer^  She  was  a  schooner  built 
in  Nyack  in  1880,  for  the  iron  trade  which 
was  then  carried  on  along  the  river,  and 
in  which  about  a  dozen  sailing  vessels  were 
profitably  engaged,  carrying  iron  ore  and 
limestone  to  the  blast  furnaces  and  taking 
away  the  pig  iron, — a  business  that  has  now 
all  ceased  as  I  have  mentioned.  This 
schooner  left  the  Manhattan  Iron  Works, 
which  was  then  (1880)  at  140th  Street  and 
North  River,  at  six  p.m.,  with  a  fresh  south 
wind  and  flood-tide.  At  eight  o'clock  the 
next  morning  she  was  at  Catskill  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  miles  up  the  river.  She  went 
up  light.  By  noon  that  day  the  schooner 
was  loaded  with  limestone  and  got  under  way 
with  a  northwest  wind,  and  at  three  o'clock 

•  Calms  and  poor  floods  produced  the  same. — W.  E.  V. 
2  Her  captain  was  M.  W.  Collyer. — W.  E.  V. 


The  Packets  55 

the  next  morning  she  was  back  at  the  dock 
of  the  Iron  Works. 

During  the  Civil  War,  and  for  a  few  years 
after,  canvas  became  very  dear,  and  the 
sloop  owners  were  reluctant  to  fit  with 
new  sails  when  needed,  and  often  when 
the  wind  was  fresh  several  sloops  and 
schooners  would  be  seen  lying  at  anchor 
rather  than  risk  having  their  old  sails  blown 
away  while  beating  to  windward. 

In  i860  there  were  as  many  as  two  hun- 
dred sloops  and  schooners  engaged  in  the  com- 
merce of  the  Hudson,  some  of  which  had  been 
built  as  early  as  181 6  such  as  the  sloop  Mad 
Anthony  now  of  Verplanck's  Point.  She 
is  still  in  commission,  and  is  the  oldest 
sailing  vessel  afloat  on  the  river  to-day.  ^ 
The  records  of  the  Custom  House  at  New 
York  contain  the  names  of  many  of  these 
vessels  though  it  is  hard  to  identify  them 
owing  to  change  of  names.  The  largest 
sloop  on  the  river  was  the  Utica  of  Athens, — 

>  She  was  altered  into  a  schooner  several  years  ago. 
— W.  E.  V. 


5(>  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

two  hundred  and  twenty  tons'  capacity, 
built  at  Albany  in  1833.  She  was  sailing 
as  late  as  1890,  but  is  now  a  lighter  in  New 
York  Harbor.  Other  up-river  sloops  of  the 
seventies  were  the  sloop  Bolivar  of  New 
Baltimore,  built  in  1826,  and  the  Victory 
of  Athens,  built  in  181 4.  She  had  no  centre- 
board, being  a  keel  vessel  like  the  Illinois 
of  Newburgh. 

Capt.  N.  S.  Cooper,  who  is  now  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Catskill  and  Hudson  Steamboat 
Company  and  until  recently  captain  of  the 
steamer  Onteora,  comes  of  an  old  family 
of  North  River  sloop  owners.  With  his 
father,  Ira  Cooper  of  Athens,  he  owned 
and  sailed  various  sloops,  among  others 
the  Dutchess,  Victory,  Utica,  Holbrook,  and 
Reindeer.  Captain  Cooper  has  kindly  con- 
tributed the  following  information: 

In  the  year  1864,  the  Sally  Frances  was  sunk 
at  Red  Hook,  Brooklyn,  in  a  blow. 

September  30,  1876,  the  schooner  Dutchess 
was  sunk  at  Barrytown  Bluff,  by  the  steamer 
St.  John. 


The  Packets  57 

October,  17,  1879,  the  schooner  Catskill  was 
sunk  by  the  steamer  City  of  Troy,  off  the  plaster 
mills  at  Newburgh. 

August  15,  1888,  the  Holbrook  was  sunk  by 
the  Saratoga  off  Catskill  Point. 

April  12,  1889,  the  Revenue  was  sunk  by  the 
Peoples'  Line  steamer  Drew  at  Esopus. 

The  Victory  was  sold  to  a  party  in  Brooklyn 
by  the  name  of  Hall,  who  changed  her  into  a 
lighter.  The  Reindeer  was  also  sold  to  the  same 
party. 

The  sloop  Congress  was  put  on  the  beach  in 
Rondout  Creek,  near  the  West  Shore  R.  R. 
Bridge. 

A  veteran  captain  of  the  upper  Hudson 
was  Capt.  A.  Wesley  Hale.  Not  long  before 
his  death,  July,  1906,  he  published,  in  the 
Saugerties  Herald,  part  of  his  recollections 
of  the  river.  The  following  is  quoted  from 
that  newspaper: 

I  saw  a  short  time  ago  a  statement  in  your 
paper  written  by  a  Newburgh  friend  and  I  think 
he  is  laboring  under  a  false  impression  when  he 
says  our  big  single  stick  sloops  were  unmanage- 


58  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

able  unless  under  full  sail,  or  as  he  expresses  it, 
under  a  full  spread  of  canvas.  Some  of  our  big 
sloops,  such  as  the  Tanner  was  when  a  sloop,  and 
the  Utica,  the  Oregon,  the  Canaan,  the  Wm. 
Mayo,  the  Asa  Bigelow,  the  Gideon  Lee,  and 
hundreds  of  others  that  I  could  mention  would 
go  to  windward  or  any  other  way  under  a  two 
reef,  and  many  of  them  under  a  three  reef  sail 
and  turn  around,  or  go  about  as  the  boatmen  say, 
almost  as  quick  as  our  ice  boats.  And  then  he 
says  the  Tanner  had  a  mast  one  hundred  and 
six  feet  and  topmast  fifty-eight  feet,  and  she 
hailed  from  Saugerties,  eight  miles  above  Kings- 
ton. Saugerties  is  twelve  miles  above  Kingston, 
and  the  Tanner  never  hailed  from  Saugerties, 
and  never  had  a  long  topmast  when  a  sloop ;  her 
mast  was  ninety-six  feet  only  with  a  short  top- 
mast. She  carried  a  large  square  topsail,  and 
only  used  it  when  sailing  with  a  fair  wind.  The 
Tanner  was  built  at  Catskill  in  1832,  and  hailed 
from  Catskill  until  bought  by  the  well  known 
Captain  called  Gus  (Augustus)  Decker,  to  run 
from  Wilbur  carrying  wood  and  stone  to  New 
York.  He  afterwards  sold  her  to  Ezra  Fitch 
to  run  in  the  stone  and  lumber  trade.  In  about 
the  year  1850  she  lay  up  at  Rondout.     There 


CAPTAIN   AUGUSTUS   WESLEY    HALE    LATE  OF  SAUGERTIES 
From  a  photograph  by  Austin 


The  Packets  59 

was  a  fire  that  winter  near  where  she  laid  up. 
The  sparks  set  her  rigging  on  fire  and  her  rig- 
ging and  spar  were  burned  to  her  deck.  She 
was  then  rigged  into  a  schooner  and  had  a  long 
topmast  and  jib-boom.  Capt.  Wm.  Hyde  then 
bought  an  interest  in  her  and  sailed  her  nearly 
forty  years,  carrying  stone  from  Wilbur  to 
Eastern  ports.  She  carried  her  mainmast  away 
in  a  blow  near  Point  Judith,  and  lost  mast,  rig- 
ging, and  mainsail.  A  fishing  smack  found  it 
and  towed  it  to  Newport.  The  Tanner  is  still  in 
the  stone  trade. 

The  Wm.  Mayo  was  built  at  Coxsackie  in  1836 
by  Wm.  Mayo  and  she  has  quite  a  record. 
She  was  bought  by  Robt.  Kerr  to  carry  stone 
from  Wilbur.  Capt.  James  Schoonraaker  took 
command  of  her.  He  capsized  her  and  carried 
her  topmast  away.  In  about  1846,  E.  J.  Mc- 
Carthy bought  her  to  carry  stone  from  Saug- 
erties.  She  changed  captains  quite  frequently. 
Capts.  Josiah  Joy,  David  Searles,  Chas.  Felto, 
Harry  Snyder,  Andrew  Simmons,  and  others 
commanded  her.  Capt.  Joy  capsized  her  in  a 
squall  opposite  Poughkeepsie  and  her  mast 
landed  on  the  ferryboat's  deck.  Capt.  David 
Searles  in  a  race  from  New  London  to  Newport 


6o  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

against  the  smart  sloop,  Oliver  Ames,  when  near 
Point  Judith,  carried  her  mast  away.  The  Ames, 
after  three  trials,  succeeded  in  getting  a  hawser 
to  her,  and  towed  her  into  Newport,  costing  the 
owner,  J.  P.  Russell,  over  $500. 

In  1868  J.  P.  Russell  rebuilt  the  Mayo  at  an  ex- 
pense of  $12,000.  He  then  rigged  her  into  a 
schooner,  and  J.  V.  L.  Crum  took  charge  of  her. 
A  few  years  after,  Capt.  Crum,  when  bound  to 
Newark,  struck  rock  and  sunk  her  near  Shooter's 
Island  in  quite  shoal  water.  They  got  her  up, 
and  about  1874  J.  P.  Russell  sold  her  to  John 
Maxwell.  Ezra  Whitaker  then  took  charge  of 
her  and  ran  her  to  Eastern  ports  with  stone. 

In  1879,  while  laying  at  anchor  in  Flushing 
bay  in  a  northeast  gale,  she  dragged  her  anchors 
and  went  ashore  on  the  rocks  on  Riker's  Island 
and  filled  with  water.  In  1880,  when  bound 
down  the  East  River  loaded  with  sand  for  the 
rubbing  mill  at  Maiden,  he  made  a  mistake 
and  ran  her  in  a  slip  near  Bridge  Street,  E.  R., 
striking  a  ship,  and  carried  both  masts  away. 
He  tore  the  sails  into  ribbons  and  smashed  a 
barge's  stern  all  in,  and  came  very  near  sinking 
her.  After  that  they  ran  her  as  a  barge  until 
1882,    when    she    was    sold    to    New    Jersey 


The  Packets  6i 

parties,  and  she  is  now  a  lighter  in  New  York 
harbor. 

The  Oregon  was  built  at  Coxsackie  in  1846 
for  parties  in  Coeymans.  Her  mast  was  ninety- 
four  feet  long  and  twenty-eight  inches  in  the 
partners.  It  came  from  the  West,  I  think  from 
Oregon,  and  cost  $500.  Her  topmast  was  sixty- 
five  feet.  The  Oregon  was  one  of  the  first  North 
River  sloops  that  carried  a  long  topmast  and 
gaff  topsail.  About  the  year  1850  Wm.  F. 
Russell  bought  her  from  Coeymans  to  carry  iron 
from  the  Ulster  iron  mill.  Capt.  Peter  Sickles 
took  command  of  her.  In  1867  Capt.  Jeremiah 
Paris  bought  her.  He  ran  her  in  the  stone 
trade  a  short  time,  and  then  rigged  her  into  a 
schooner  and  ran  her  to  the  East  with  stone 
and  lumber. 

The  sloop  Canaan  was  built  at  Albany  in 
1826.  Capt.  Levi  Freligh  bought  her  in  185 1. 
In  1853  he  transferred  half  of  her  to  his  son, 
Capt.  B.  M.  Freligh.  B.  M.  was  captain.  His 
brother  Peter  was  sailing  master,  and  Austin 
was  captain  of  the  forecastle.  She  was  a  hard 
weather  sloop.  She  was  called  the  old  horse, 
and  very  few,  if  any,  could  blanket  her  when 
beating  up  the  river  in  a  heavy  northeast  blow. 


62  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Capt.  Freligh  ran  her  principally  in  the  brick 
trade.  At  one  time  brick  was  dull,  he  took  a 
load  of  lumber  from  Albany  to  Providence, 
R.  I.  When  going  around  Point  Judith  they 
got  caught  in  a  blow  and  had  a  rough  time. 
They  were  all  fresh-water  sailors,  and  they 
thought  their  time  had  come,  but  being  a  good 
able  vessel,  she  weathered  the  gale,  and  they 
reached  Providence  all  right.  They  did  not 
make  another  trip. 

The  sloop  Victory  was  built  at  Marlborough, 
N.  Y.,  in  1814.  She  ran  as  a  merchant  sloop 
and  carried  passengers  for  several  years,  and 
was  afterwards  bought  by  John  V.  L.  Overbaugh 
and  Wm.  Thorp  to  carry  brick  from  Glasco. 
In  about  1843  they  rebuilt  her  and  raised  her 
main  deck.  In  about  1868  they  sold  her  to 
Capt.  Ira  Cooper  of  Athens.  He  again  rebuilt 
her  and  made  her  a  flush  deck.  About  1890 
he  sold  her  to  New  York  parties,  and  she  is 
now  a  lighter  in  New  York  harbor. 

The  Bucktail,  afterwards  converted  into 
a  schooner  and  called  the  Dutchess,  the 
Catskill  a  schooner  which  sank  in  Newl  urgh 
bay,  and  the  big  sloops  Addison  and    Am- 


The  Packets  63 

hassador,  built  at  Coxsackie  in  181 9,  and 
the  Iowa  of  Maiden,  were  among  the  other 
up-river  vessels  of  my  time.  Poughkeepsie 
was  the  home  port  of  several  more.  The 
two  blast  furnaces,  the  famous  Buckeye 
mowing-machine  works,  the  Vassar  brewery, 
and  other  industries  gave  them  profitable 
freights.  In  earlier  days  Poughkeepsie  had 
even  sent  out  whaling  vessels  and  the  Whale 
Dock  is  still  pointed  out.  The  Mohican 
was  one  of  the  old  sloops  that  hailed  from 
this  port.  She  was  built  in  1837  at  Peeks- 
kill  by  Isaac  Depew,  Senator  Depew's  father, 
who  ran  her  as  a  packet  and  market  boat. 
During  the  Civil  War  she  passed  into  the 
possession  of  Edward  Tower  and  others 
who  were  interested  in  the  furnaces  and 
who  used  her  in  conveying  limestone  and 
iron  ore  to  the  Tower  furnaces  at  Pough- 
keepsie. Her  skipper  was  Joseph  Reynolds. 
The  Mohican  was  sixty-eight  feet  long, 
twenty-five  feet  beam.  Under  her  quarter- 
deck, which  extended  almost  to  midships, 
were    a    dozen    berths.      She    was    always 


64  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

painted  red,  and  was  a  fast  sailer.  Her 
timbers  and  planking  were  of  locust  and 
white  oak.  The  old  sloop  now  lies  on  the 
shore  at  Chelsea  in  front  of  the  home  of 
Captain  Moses  W.  Collyer  who  brought  her 
there  for  a  breakwater  and  dock  a  few 
years  ago  when  she  was  dismantled  and 
withdrawn  from  the  river.  Other  vessels 
of  Poughkeepsie  were  the  big  sloop  Mar- 
garet, built  at  Sing  Sing  in  1835  (her 
captain  was  Abe  Lansing),  the  schooners 
Buckeye,  Flying  Cloud,  and  Peter  Valleau, 
pronounced  by  the  boatmen  "Vallew."  The 
last  two  plied  between  Newburgh  and 
Poughkeepsie,  while  the  Margaret  brought 
lumber  from  Albany.  The  Henry  Barclay, 
the  Kemhle,  and  the  Annie  Tower  like 
the  Mohican  were  employed  in  the  iron 
trade. 

At  New  Hamburgh  eight  miles  below  there 
were,  among  other  boats,  the  sloops  Mary 
Dallas  and  General  Ward,  and  the  scow 
sloop  Little  Martha  of  which  "Clint"  Wil- 
liams was  skipper.    He  and  his  two  brothers, 


The  Packets  65 

colored  men,  comprised  the  crew,  and  cap- 
ital boatmen  they  were. 

The  Leroy  brothers,  William,  Peter,  and 
Charles,  as  well  as  the  Drake  brothers. 
Charles,  William,  and  Martin,  were  all 
experienced  and  skilful  boatmen.  They 
could  also  handle  small  yachts  with  great 
ability.  For  both  William  Drake's  and 
Peter  Leroy 's  skill  in  this  respect  I  had 
great  admiration.  They,  too,  were  experts 
in  handling  ice-boats,  and  when  Peter 
Leroy  had  the  tiller  of  the  Zero,  there  were 
few  yachts  on  the  ice  between  Poughkeepsie 
or  Newburgh  that  could  pass  him.  1  William 
and, Peter  Leroy  were  excellent  shots,  and 
no  one  knew  better  than  they  where  to  find 
woodcock  and  quail.  The  Leroys  were 
among  the  first  to  foresee  the  doom  of  the 
sloop,  and  about  1876  they  built  the  first 

>  Other  ice-boats  of  this  neighborhood  were  the  Fly- 
ing Cloud,  owned  by  Mr.  Irving  Grinnell,  and  the  giant 
Icicle,  by  Mr.  John  E.  Roosevelt;  but  the  latter  was  so 
heavy  that  she  showed  her  speed  only  in  a  heavy  wind 
and  on  hard  ice.  On  Capt.  M.  W.  CoUyer's  Vision  I 
have  run  from  Newburgh  to  Danskammer  Point,  a 
distance  of  six  miles,  in  seven  minutes. — W.  E.  V. 


66         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

of  the  barges  for  Gamer  &  Co.  This  was  the 
Mary  and  Emma — a  vessel  of  about  three 
hundred  tons'  carrying  capacity. 

Captain  Martin  Drake  has  kindly  con- 
tributed the  following: 

I  will  give  you  as  near  as  I  can,  the  vessels 
and  their  captains,  belonging  to  New  Hamburgh, 
from  about  i860  to  1873  or  1875: 

NAME  CAPTAIN 

Sloop      John  I.  Wiltse Charles  S.  Drake 

Utica  « Charles  S.  Drake 

Ella  Jane William  Percival 

David  Sands Jacob  Leroy 

General  Ward William  P.  Drake 

James  Coats James  R.  Lawson 

Harriet  Martha Charles  Leroy 

Mary  Dallas Martin  V.  Drake 

North  America Austin  Griffin 

Samuel  Cunningham  .  .William  P.  Drake 

Revenue Charles  S.  Drake 

Reputation Van  Nort  Carpenter 

Joseph  Griggs Marvin  Vananden 

Lu/:y  Hopkins Martin  Griffin 

Victory Charles  Leroy 

Jane  Grant William  P.  Drake 

>  Largest  sloop  on  the  river,  as  already  mentioned, 
but  she  was  not  fast,  though  a  good  sailer. — W.  E.  V. 


CAPTAIN  MARTIN  V.    DRAKE  OF  NEW  HAMBURGH 
Kmin  a  phfUograph  by  the  Benedict  Studios,   New  York 


The  Packets  67 

NAME  CAPTAIN 

Sloop  Abraham  Jones William  B.  Leroy 

"  First  Effort Peter  Leroy 

"  Little  Martha Clinton  Williams 

"  Kate  Hale Charles  S.  Drake 

"  Pennsylvania William  P.  Drake 

"  Exchange William  P.  Drake 

"  Samuel  Hall Harry  Smith 

Schooner    Prize Austin  Griffin 

"  Celeste Martin  V.  Drake 

"  Chas.  Rockwood Edward  Griffin 

"  Glattcus Charles  S.  Drake 

"  Anna William  P.  Drake 

"  Missouri Harry  Smith 

"  Christopher  Columbus .  .Charles  S.  Drake 

The  only  captains  living  now  are  Charles 
Leroy,  Austin  Griffin,  Clinton  Williams,  William 
P.  Drake,  and  myself. 

Will  mention  a  few  incidents : 

The  sloop  General  Ward's  bones  lie  at  Croton 
on  the  Hudson,  and  those  of  the  sloop  Climax 
are  at  New  Windsor,  and  of  the  sloop  North 
America,  at  Hampton. 

The  sloop  James  Coats  was  rounding  West 
Point,  when  the  main  sheet  caught  around  the 
neck  of  Benj.  Hunt,  and  severed  his  head  from 
his  body,  the  head  going  overboard  leaving  the 


68  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

body  on  deck.  This  happened  in  the  summer 
of  1866. 

Sloop  Mary  Dallas  capsized  on  Long  Island 
Sound,  E.  S.  E.  of  Faulkner's  Island,  and  was 
towed  into  New  London  by  the  tug  Wellington, 
August  6,  1866. 

Sloop  David  Sands  was  sunk  in  collision  with 
a  steamer  New  York  harbor,  and  three  out  of 
five  of  the  crew  were  drowned. 

Sloops  General  Ward  and  James  Coats  came 
near  being  burned  in  the  great  railroad  accident 
at  New  Hamburgh  drawbridge  where  Doc.  Sim- 
mons, engineer,  and  twenty-three  passengers 
lost  their  lives,  February  6,  1871. 

At  Low  Point  (now  Chelsea)  they  could 
boast  of  eight  sloops  and  schooners  during 
the  period  between  1868  and  1888.  In 
the  list  were  the  Benjamin  Franklin,  Lydia 
White,  Iron  Age,  Fancy,  Wm.  A.  Ripley, 
and  Henrietta  Collyer.  During  this  period 
Newburgh  was  the  home  port  of  nearly 
twenty  sailing  vessels.  In  this  list  were 
the  Illinois,  of  which  "Pomp"  (James) 
Wilson   was    captain,  and    the   Samsondale, 


SLOOP  ' '  MARY  DALLAS,  '  ' 
OWNED  BY  CAPTAIN  MARTIN  V.   DRAKE  OF  NEW  HAMBURGH 

From  an  oil  painting  owned  by  him 


The  Packets  69 

whose  captain  was  George  Woolsey.  He 
had  a  good  voice  and  was  fond  of  singing 
as  he  stood  on  the  quarter-deck  by  the 
tiller  of  a  moonlight  night.  In  Part  III. 
will  be  found  the  reminiscences  of  Captain 
Woolsey,  which  his  widow  has  kindly  given 
for  publication. 

The  Illinois  was  wrecked  off  Point  Judith 
about  fifteen  years  ago.  The  fate  of  the 
Samsondale  was  to  become  a  lighter,  and  to 
lay  her  bones  on  the  Jersey  Flats. 

Counting  the  sloops  at  Cornwall,  Fish- 
kill,  Low  Point,  New  Hamburgh,  and  New 
Windsor  with  those  at  Newburgh  there 
were  at  least  thirty  sailing  vessels  hailing 
from  Newburgh  bay. 

Cold  Spring  is  in  the  Highlands  at  the 
south  end  of  the  Worragut,  so  dreaded 
by  the  old  Dutch  skippers,  if  Washington 
Irving  is  to  be  believed.  This  reach  has 
always  borne  a  bad  reputation  for  its  baf- 
fling and  gusty  winds.  Nevertheless  several 
sloops  made  that  their  home  port,  drawn 
thither  by  the  blast  furnace  and  the  West 


7o  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Point  foundry  where  the  famous  Parrott 
guns  were  made  during  the  Civil  War. 
Many  of  them  were  carried  on  the  Victorine 
of  which  "Dave"  Lyons  was  captain,  who 
I  beHeve  is  still  living.  She  was  the  fastest 
sloop  on  the  river  and  once  took  part  in 
a  yacht  race  at  New  York  and  acquitted 
herself  with  credit.  She  kept  the  river  as 
late  as  1890.  The  sloop  was  built  in  1848 
at  Piermont,  and  had  a  carrying  capacity 
of  one  hundred  and  tw^enty-five  tons.  She  is 
now  a  lighter  of  an  Oil  Company  at  Edge- 
water,  N.  J.  Her  companion  was  the 
schooner  Ai^orma  built  in  Nyack  in  1852.  In 
the  cove  between  Constitution  Island  and 
Cold  Spring  the  old  Missouri  and  John 
Jones  lie  abandoned. 

Nyack  and  Piermont  on  Tappan  Zee 
were  the  homes  of  many  sloops  and  schooners 
of  past  days  whose  sails  whitened  the  waters 
as  they  sailed  by  Point  No  Point,  Ver- 
drietege  Hook,  and  Teller's  Point. 

It  was  not  until  about  the  year  1862 
that   sailing   vessels   on   the   Hudson   were 


The  Packets  71 

required  by  law  to  carry  lights  at  night.  * 
Notwithstanding  this  there  were  compar- 
atively few  collisions,  either  with  each 
other  or  with  the  many  fast  passenger 
steamboats  that  then  plied  up  and  down 
the  river.  Yet  there  were  noteworthy 
disasters  due  to  collisions  among  which 
were  the  following: 

The  schooner  Catskill  while  beating  down 
the  river  the  night  of  October  17,  1879, 
was  struck  by  the  steamboat  Saratoga  off 
Newburgh,  and  sunk.  She  now  lies  near  the 
track  of  the  ferry  at  Fishkill,  about  five 
hundred  feet  from  the  Newburgh  shore. 
On  the  ebb-tide  the  ripple  of  the  water 
running  over  the  hulk  can  readily  be  dis- 
cerned, and  serves  as  a  mark  for  the  pilots 
of  the  ferry-boat  during  a  fog.  In  the  sum- 
mer of  1849  the  schooner  Noah  Brown 
collided  with  the  steamer  Empire  in  New- 
burgh bay.     The  steamer  sank  and  thirty 


>  General  B.  F.  Butler,  at  one  time  owner  of  the  yacht 
America,  was  the  author  of  this  law  as  I  am  credibly 
informed.— W.  E.  V. 


72  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

passengers  were  drowned.  She  had  just 
left  the  dock  at  Newburgh  at  the  time  of 
colHsion.  The  Empire  was  raised  and  four 
years  later  was  in  collision  with  the  sloop 
Chancellor  Livingston.  On  this  occasion  the 
sloop  was  beating  up  the  river  on  the  night 
of  July  1 6,  1853.  When  off  New  Hamburgh 
she  struck  the  Empire  bound  from  Troy  to 
New  York.  The  impact  of  the  sloop  not 
only  threw  the  steamer's  boiler  from  its 
bed,  but  sunk  her  as  well,  with  the  result 
that  many  passengers  lost  their  lives  from 
scalding  or  drowning.  The  sloop  First 
Effort,  of  which  the  late  John  L.  Colly er 
was  then  owner  and  captain,  was  passing 
at  the  time  and  went  alongside  and  rescued 
many  of  the  passengers.  The  Empire  was 
beached  on  the  east  shore  a  short  distance 
below  New  Hamburgh. 

On  the  night  of  the  2  ist  of  November,  18 — , 
the  sloop  W.  W.  Reynolds  was  beating  down 
the  river  and  off  Blue  Point — which  is  about 
two  miles  south  of  Poughkeepsie,  where 
the    sloop    belonged  —  she     ran    into    the 


The  Packets  73 

steamer  Francis  Skiddy.  The  sloop's  bow- 
sprit struck  the  boiler  causing  it  to  explode. 
Three  firemen  and  several  passengers  were 
scalded  to  death.  The  steamboat  was  on 
her  way  down  the  river  from  Albany  to  New 
York,  and  was  then  making  the  return  trips 
by  day.  She  was  the  only  boat  that  ever 
made  such  regular  trips.  The  Francis  Skiddy 
was  built  by  George  Collyer. 

The  dangers  of  jibing,  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made,  were  shockingly  ex- 
emplified in  the  case  of  the  sloop  James 
Coats,  of  which  James  R.  Lawson  was 
captain.  This  sloop  ran  between  Kings- 
ton Point  and  Brooklyn,  and  once  made 
the  round  trip  within  forty-eight  hours. 
On  one  occasion  in  the  year  1865,  or 
'66,  she  was  running  down  the  river  with 
a  fair  wind  and  had  of  course  to  jibe  as  she 
rounded  West  Point.  As  the  main  sheet, 
all  slack,  came  over  the  deck  it  formed  a 
loop  over  the  head  of  Ben  Hunt,  who  was 
at  the  wheel,  taking  off  his  head,  which  fell 
overboard,  leaving  the  headless  trunk  lying 


74         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

on  the  deck.  Jibing  poles  which  some 
sloops  carried  might  have  obviated  such 
a  casualty. 

The  sail  has  almost  disappeared  from 
the  Hudson,  for  the  big  seagoing  schooner 
of  three,  four,  and  even  five  masts  that 
still  comes  up  the  river,  rarely  spreads  her 
sails.  She  makes  part  of  a  great  tow — 
consisting  of  fifty  or  sixty  vessels  that  move 
slowly  along  the  river,  drawn  by  three  or 
four  powerful  tugs,  which  in  turn  have  su- 
perseded the  paddle-wheel  towboats  of  my 
boyhood.  Then  the  towing  steamer  was 
generally  an  old  passenger  boat  which  had 
had  her  day  on  the  line  between  New 
York  and  Albany.  Stripped  of  cabins, 
saloons,  and  upper  deck,  a  mere  skeleton 
of  a  boat,  she  w^ould  be  seen  wearily  drawing 
a  huge  assemblage  of  barges,  scows,  canal 
boats,  and  down-east  schooners  laden  with 
lumber,  flagstones,  grain,  coal,  and  other 
commodities.  To  this  extremity  had  the 
swift  and  once  popular  Alida  sunk,  and  she 
was  a  melancholy  sight  indeed,  when  her 


The  Packets  75 

former  grandeur  and  the  fame  of  her  quick 
passage  between  New  York  and  Poughkeep- 
sie,  were  recalled,  which  I  believe  has  never 
been  lowered  by  any  of  her  successors. 
Though  occasionally  a  schooner  is  seen 
sailing  on  the  river,  the  North  River  sloop 
has  vanished  from  the  Hudson. 


PART  II 

THE   SAIL   IN    COMPETITION   WITH    STEAM* 

This  part  is  a  compilation  of  my  ex- 
periences and  recollections  of  what  I  have 
seen  and  heard  as  cabin-boy,  master,  and 
owner  of  Hudson  River  sloops,  schooners, 
and  steam  vessels,  embracing  a  period  of 
nearly  half  a  century ;  beginning  in  the  six- 
ties, first  as  cabin-boy,  then  cook,  after  that, 
cook  and  hand  before  the  mast,  then  as  mate, 
and  finally  as  captain,  master,  and  owner. 
It  is  also  a  record  of  old  North  River  sloops 
and  schooners,  their  names,  some  of  their 
captains,  owners,  and  builders;  the  trade 
they  were  in,  and  their  home  ports. 

These  vessels  have  all  passed  away,  as 
well  as  most  of  their  masters  and  owners 
and  builders.  There  is  no  work  for  this 
class  of  vessel  to-day  on  the  Hudson,  where 

>  Written  by  Moses  W.  Collyer. 
76 


CAPTAIN    MOSES   WAKEMAN    COLLYER   OF  CHELSEA 
From  a  photograph  by  Whitney,  Poughkeepsic,  N.  V. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  77 

in  my  younger  days  there  were  hundreds 
owned  and  employed. 

I  was  born  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson 
River  in  the  town  of  Red  Hook.  My  father, 
John  L.  Collyer,  was  known  in  the  thirties 
as  a  North  River  sloop  boatman,  having 
run  from  upper  Red  Hook  Landing,  now 
called  Tivoli,  to  New  York,  as  captain  and 
owner  of  a  North  River  packet  sloop,  which 
was  engaged  in  carrying  farmers'  produce 
and  passengers  to  New  York,  and  general 
merchandise  on  his  return  trip.  He  was 
one  of  a  family  of  eight  brothers,  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  their  younger  days 
around  the  docks  at  Sing  Sing,  now  called 
Ossining.  My  father  was  the  oldest,  and 
his  brothers  were,  William,  Stephen,  Fer- 
ris, Thomas,  George,  Samuel,  and  Charles  S., 
all  of  whom,  at  this  time,  were  connected 
with  the  building  and  running  of  Hudson 
River  sloops  and  steamboats. 

Thomas  Collyer  was  the  leading  member 
of  this  family  as  a  shipbuilder.     He  went 


78  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

to  work  as  an  apprentice  to  Captain  Moses 
Stanton  and  worked  in  his  shipyard  four 
years.  He  then  went  to  work  for  a  Mr. 
Bergh,  the  father  of  Henry  Bergh  of  New 
York  City,  who  was  a  shipbuilder.  The 
first  sloop  that  he  built  was  the  First  Effort  ^ 
at  Sing  Sing;  then  the  Katrina  Van  Tas- 
sell,  launched  in  1838,  and  which  sailed  the 
river  until  1883,  when  she  was  laid  on  the 
beach  under  the  Palisades  to  die.  The  first 
steamboat  he  built  was  the  Trojan  at  West 
Troy,  and  from  there  he  went  up  to  Lake 
Champlain  and  built  steamers.  This  was 
in  1844.  Then  he  went  to  New  York  and 
opened  a  yard  with  his  brother  William, 
at  the  foot  of  12  th  Street,  East  River,  New 
York  City.  There  he  built  the  steamers 
Santa  Claus,  Kingston,  and  Niagara.  This 
partnership  was  dissolved  in  1847,  ^^^ 
Thomas  Collyer  started  a  yard  of  his  own 
at  the  foot  of  21st  Street,  East  River,  New 
York  City.  Here  he  built  the  steamers 
Armenia,  George  Law,  and  Reindeer  to  run 

'  With  the  aid  of  his  brother  William  then  14  years 
old 


Sail  vs.  Steam  79 

between  New  York  and  Albany.  He  also 
built  the  Daniel  Drew  and  the  steamer 
Henry  Clay  which  was  built  in  1850,  and 
was  burned  at  Riverdale  on  July  28,  1852, 
in  which  seventy  passengers  perished.  He 
also  built  the  steamer  Thomas  Collyer, 
which  was  the  last  boat  he  built  before  his 
death.  This  steamer  was  later  furbished  up 
and  sold  to  John  H.  Starin,  and  is  now 
called  the  Sam  Sloan,  running  in  the  harbor 
of  New  York.  His  records  show  that  he 
built  three  sloops,  twenty-six  barges,  four 
propellers,  twelve  schooners,  three  barques, 
two  sailing  ships,  five  steamships,  thirty- 
seven  steamboats,  and  two  yachts. 

These  North  River  sloops  were  a  great 
industry  on  the  Hudson  River  in  those 
days,  there  being  hundreds  of  them  running 
from  the  different  towns  to  New  York, 
and  from  Albany  to  eastern  ports.  From 
Red  Hook  landing,  my  father  ran  the 
sloops  First  Effort  and  Perseverance  as 
packet  sloops,  also  the  sloop  Belle,  built 
by  William  Collyer  at  Green  Point  for  this 
trade. 


8o  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

The  regular  sailing  time  of  these  sloops 
was  a  trip  every  two  weeks  from  Red 
Hook  to  New  York  and  return.  These 
North  River  sloop  boatmen,  as  they  were 
called  in  those  days,  were  prominent  men, 
and  were  the  business  men  of  the  Hudson 
valley.  They  not  only  had  to  know  how 
to  sail  and  manage  their  sloops  in  all  kinds 
of  weather,  but  also  to  know  the  depth  of 
water  all  along  the  Hudson,  as  in  those  days 
most  of  these  sloops  were  keel  boats  and 
drew  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  of  water.  ^  Their 
captains  also  had  to  know  good  harbors  and 
anchorages,  and  where  the  wind  from  dif- 
ferent quarters  would  be  dangerous  to 
navigation  of  these  small  vessels.  And  I 
might  here  say,  a  North  River  sloop  would 
only  carry  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  tons. 
Their  captains,  also,  had  to  be  good  business 
men,  for  the  captain  of  a  packet  sloop  took 
charge  of  all  the  farmers'  produce,  sold  the 
cargo,  collected  the  money,  and  made  the 

'  The  lights  and  buoys  now  numerous,  were  formerly 
few  and  far  between. — W.  E.  V. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  8i 

cash  return  to  the  farmer  when  he  got 
home  each  trip.  This  was  the  business  of 
a  North  River  sloop  captain,  where  to-day 
there  is  not  one  to  be  found  on  the  Hudson 
in  this  trade.  The  principal  traffic  of  the 
Hudson  valley  is  now  being  done  by  steam- 
ers towing  large  scows,  barges,  and  carrying 
from  four  hundred  to  one  thousand  tons,  and 
by  steamboats  and  railroads  carrying  the 
passengers,  produce,  and  general  merchan- 
dise of  the  Hudson  River  towns. 

After  the  Hudson  River  railroad  came 
through  Red  Hook,  and  about  1850  my 
father  sold  his  storehouse  and  landing  to 
that  company,  as  the  line  went  directly 
through  his  property  and  took  away  the 
dock  facilities  for  the  freighting  business. 
Then  he  engaged  in  running  a  small  market 
sloop  named  the  Rival,  going  to  Albany 
and  buying  his  cargo  of  flour,  feed,  grain, 
and  different  things  that  would  sell  in  their 
season  to  the  brickyards  and  merchants 
along  the  Hudson.  This  was  carried  on 
for  a  number  of  years  with  the  little  sloop 

6 


82  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Rival  that  could  carry  but  fifty  tons,  but 
at  this  time  it  was  a  good  business. 

As  the  different  lines  of  steamers  pro- 
gressed on  the  Hudson,  and  the  market  for 
grain  got  farther  west,  this  business  gave 
out  for  sloops  and  schooners,  and  the  Rival 
was  sold  in  1 86 1  at  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
War. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  he  again  started 
the  sloop  business  by  going  to  Poughkeepsie 
and  buying  the  old  sloop  Benjamin  Franklin, 
which  was  built  at  Huntington,  L.  I.,  in 
the  year  1836.  She  was  owned  in  Pough- 
keepsie by  a  Captain  John  Van  Keuren, 
and  ran  from  Poughkeepsie  to  Rondout, 
carrying  coal  from  Rondout.  This  sloop 
could  carry  eighty-five  tons,  so  you  see 
what  a  sloop  of  that  size  could  do  to-day 
in  supplying  the  city  of  Poughkeepsie  with 
coal.  This  was  my  first  experience  in  joining 
a  North  River  sloop.  I  went  to  Poughkeepsie 
on  board  the  sloop  Benjamin  Franklin  as 
a  cabin  boy  in  the  spring  of  1865.  Our 
first  job  that  went  with  this  sloop  was  to 


SLOOP  "  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  "  WITH  CAPTAIN  JOHN  L.   COLLYER  ON  THE  DECK 
From  a  photograph  taken  at  Seabring's  dock,  Low  Point,  1881 


Sail  vs.  Steam  83 

carry  crockery  and  earthenware  goods  from 
Foster's  dock  at  Poughkeepsie  for  the  firm 
of  Reidinger  &  Caire,  who  manufactured 
these  goods  at  this  time  at  146  Main  Street, 
Poughkeepsie,  from  what  was  called  potters' 
clay.  I  might  here  say  that  this  clay  was 
all  freighted  by  sloops  from  Woodbridge 
and  Cheese  Creek,  New  Jersey,  to  Pough- 
keepsie, and  then  made  into  this  kind  of 
ware,  which  was  distributed  along  the  Hud- 
son. For  many  years  we  made  these  trips 
both  spring  and  fall,  and  between  these 
times  we  ran  principally  to  Albany  and 
river  and  Sound  ports  in  the  lumber  trade. 

In  those  days  it  was  not  the  custom  to 
have  your  cargo  engaged  before  going  to 
Albany,  but  to  go  up  with  your  sloop  and 
have  the  lumber  merchant  come  and  look 
you  up  to  take  a  load  of  lumber  for  him. 
I  have  seen  these  small  vessels  lay  three 
and  four  abreast  at  the  docks  in  the  lumber 
district  at  Albany  waiting  their  turn  to  get 
to  the  dock  so  as  to  be  able  to  load,  and 
the  rate  of  freight  was  from  $2.00  to  $3.50 


84  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

per  thousand,  to  dilTerent  Sound  ports, 
where  now  there  is  no  trade  of  this  kind  for 
any  vessel.  Another  industry  for  our  sloop 
was  to  carr>'  coal  from  Rondout  to  the 
different  residences  located  along  the  Hud- 
son, such  as  the  Livingstons,  DePeysters, 
and  Clarksons  who  lived  above  Tivoli.  They 
always  got  their  coal  in  by  the  cargo  for 
themselves  and  their  help  whom  they  em- 
ployed. This  kept  us  busy  for  several 
months  each  summer.  Another  industry 
for  the  North  River  sloop  was  to  carry 
wood  to  the  brickyards.  And  brick,  flag- 
stone, lime,  cement,  and  pig-iron  were 
the  principal  cargoes  coming  down  the 
Hudson  to  keep  these  vessels  employed. 
Gathering  ice  is  also  a  great  industry  of  the 
Hudson  but  it  has  always  been  carried 
in  barges. 

Thus  with  my  brothers,  Frank  and  Robert, 
we  sailed  the  sloop  Ben  Franklin  until  1877, 
when  I  left  her  to  join  the  schooner  Iron  Age 
and  later  to  be  captain  of  the  schooner  Henry 
B.  Fidderman  in  the  spring  of    1878.     My 


Sail  vs.  Steam  85 

father  sailed  the  sloop  Ben  Franklin  until 
the  time  of  his  death  in  1889,  when  the  sloop 
was  sold  to  do  service  as  a  lighter  in  New 
York  Harbor. 

My  father's  old  sloop  the  First  Effort 
already  mentioned,  met  with  a  singular 
disaster  after  he  parted  with  her.  While 
lying  at  anchor  on  a  dark  night  near  Marl- 
borough, the  big  steamboat  James  W. 
Baldwin,  mistaking  the  sloop's  lights  for 
those  on  the  wharf  where  the  steamer  was 
to  land,  came  alongside  and  struck  the 
sloop  with  such  a  violent  impact  that  she 
sank  in  fifty  feet  of  water.  All  on  board 
were  saved,  but  the  sloop  was  never  raised. 
The  Baldwin  bore  a  bad  reputation  for  col- 
lisions with  sailing  craft.  She  is  still  on 
the  river  but  under  another  name. 

I  found  this  statement  and  account  of 
the  first  steamboat  on  the  Hudson  River 
among  the  manuscript  papers  of  Colonel 
Nathan  Beckwith  of  Red  Hook  in  Dutchess 
County.  He  died  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1865,  in  the  eighty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 


86  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

The  first  trip  of  the  steamer  Clermont  started 
from  the  East  River  and  went  to  Jersey  City. 
She  was  constructed  under  the  personal  super- 
vision of  Robert  Fulton  in  1807.  She  was 
one  hundred  feet  long,  twelve  feet  wide,  and 
seven  feet  deep.  This  steamboat  made  two 
or  three  trips  to  Albany,  and  was  hauled  out 
at  Red  Hook,  near  where  Herman  Hoffman's 
store  stood,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  British 
in  the  Revolutionary  War.  The  property  is 
now  owned  by  Mr.  DeKoven.  In  the  winter  of 
1807  said  boat  was  lengthened  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  and  widened  to  eighteen  feet, 
the  name  was  changed  to  North  River.  The 
hull  was  built  by  David  Brown  of  New  York, 
and  the  engine  by  Watt  and  Bolton  of  England. 
The  following  advertisement  appeared  in  the 
Albany  Gazette,  September  i,  1807:  "The 
steamboat  North  River  will  leave  Paulus  Hook, 
Jersey  City,  on  Friday,  September  4th,  at  nine 
o'clock  A.M.  and  arrive  at  Albany  on  Saturday  at 
nine  o'clock  p.m.  Good  berths  and  accommo- 
dations are  provided.  The  charge  to  each  pas- 
senger is  as  follows: — To  Newburgh,  $3.00,  time 
fourteen  hours;  to  Poughkeepsie,  $4.00,  time 
seventeen  hours;  to  Esopus  $5.00,  time  twenty 


Sail  vs.  Steam  87 

hours;  to  Hudson  $5.50,  time  thirty  hours;  to 
Albany  $7.00,  time,  thirty-six  hours."  A  notice 
in  the  same  paper  of  October  5,  1807  announces 
that  Mr.  Fulton's  new  steamboat  left  New  York 
at  ten  o'clock  a.m.,  against  a  strong  tide  and 
very  high  water,  also  a  violent  gale  from  the 
north;  it  made  headway  beyond  the  most 
sanguine  expectations  and  without  being 
wrecked  by  the  water,  heavy  sea  and  gale." 

REMINISCENCES   OF   ACCIDENTS   TO    SLOOPS 

On  June  12,  1869,  the  schooner  Orbit 
coming  down  the  river  with  the  wind 
northwest,  loaded  with  brick,  when  off 
Little  Stony  Point,  ^  was  struck  by  a  heavy 
flaw,  and  before  she  could  come  out  of  it 
and  shake,  she  ran  under,  filled  and  sank. 
She  belonged  to  Captain  Lewis  Sheldon  and 
brother,  of  Fort  Montgomery.  No  one  was 
lost. 

On  November  20,  1869,  there  was  a 
terrific  gale,  east  and  southeast.  Five  or 
six  vessels  sank  at  the  wharves  at  Newburgh. 

'  In  the  Highlands,  near  Coldspring. — W.  E.  V. 


88  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

The  sloop  Qiiackcnbnsh,  belonging  to  Capt. 
E.  Kearney  of  Ulster  County,  was  sunk. 
She  lay  at  Bigelow's  dock,  loaded  with 
flagstones.  The  tug  John  Fuller  pumped 
her  out,  and  she  was  raised. 

On  March  26th  and  27th,  1870,  there  was 
a  severe  east  northeast  gale.  In  Haver- 
straw  bay  the  effect  of  the  storm  was  very 
destructive.  Brickyard  docks  and  vessels 
suffered,  there  being  such  a  high  tide.  Ten 
sloops  and  schooners  were  sunk  between 
Haverstraw  and  Grassy  Point.  The  schooner 
Brook,  Captain  George  Hawkins,  loaded 
with  lumber  from  Newburgh,  went  ashore 
above  Grassy  Point  and  sank  in  the  same 
storm. 

April  25,  1870,  the  schooner  Cabinet 
of  Newport,  having  loaded  coal  at  New- 
burgh, while  on  her  way  down  the  river 
ran  on  the  flats  just  below  Constitution 
Island,  The  captain  started  to  run  an 
anchor,  not  considering  the  extreme  depth 


Sail  vs.  Steam  89 

of  the  water  in  the  channel,  it  being  from 
one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
deep.  They  took  their  large  anchor  and 
chain  in  the  small  boat,  and  the  anchor, 
chain,  boat  and  men  all  went  to  the  bottom. 

In  the  year  1877,  the  new  terminal  of 
the  Newburgh  and  Fishkill  ferry  to  the 
N.  Y.  Central  Depot  was  completed,  and 
in  October  the  ferry  commenced  to  run  at 
this  landing. 

On  June  8,  1878,  the  sloop  Milan  of  Ron- 
dout,  was  beating  down,  loaded  with  flag- 
ging-stones. The  wind  was  blowing  heavily 
from  the  south  and  east,  and  when  off 
Pollipel's  Island,  in  Newburgh  bay,  the 
captain  had  gone  about  on  the  west  shore 
and  was  standing  to  the  eastward,  when 
there  came  a  heavy  puff  down  from  the 
mountains,  striking  her  dead  full,  and  fol- 
lowing the  vessel  around;  the  cargo  shifted 
and  the  vessel  filled  and  sank.  She  was 
afterwards  raised  and  rigged  into  a  schooner 
and  called  the  George  Hurst. 


90         Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

On  July  2,  1878,  the  sloop  Illinois,  then 
having  been  altered  into  a  schooner  for 
two  years,  owned  and  commanded  by  Cap- 
tain James  Wilson  of  Newburgh,  while 
lying  at  anchor  in  Long  Island  Sound  in 
a  fog  off  Captain's  Island,  was  run  into  by 
the  Stonington  Line  steamer  Massachusetts, 
and  sunk.  The  Illinois  had  left  Say  brook 
the  day  before  the  accident,  and  by  the 
morning  of  the  second,  before  daylight,  got 
up  as  far  as  Captain's  Island,  wind  aU  died 
out,  ebb-tide  made,  so  they  anchored.  At 
three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  it  set 
in  foggy.  At  a  little  after  four  o'clock,  the 
steamer  Massachusetts  came  along  and  struck 
the  schooner  on  the  starboard  quarter  a 
glancing  blow,  taking  the  whole  side  of  the 
vessel  out,  and  she  sank.  The  wreckers 
went  to  work  and  in  about  thirty  hours  the 
vessel  was  on  the  ways  at  City  Island.  The 
Illinois  was  originally  a  packet  sloop,  run- 
ning from  Newburgh,  and  was  built  there  at 
the  foot  of  South  Street  in  181 8.  She  could 
carry  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  tons. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  91 

On  July  8,  1879,  the  schooner  Isaac  Sher- 
wood, then  belonging  to  Captain  William 
Bacon  of  Haverstraw,  loaded  with  brick, 
had  just  come  off  the  flats  with  a  nice  breeze 
from  the  north,  and  when  a  little  below 
Grassy  Point,  met  the  propeller  John  L. 
Hasbrouck,  of  the  Poughkeepsie  Transporta- 
tion Company  with  the  Newburgh  barge 
Charles  Spear  alongside  in  tow.  The  night 
was  not  dark,  and  the  moon  was  shining. 
They  took  a  course  for  each  other,  the 
steamer  not  sheering,  nor  did  the  schooner 
alter  her  course.  The  steamer  stopped 
and  backed,  but  too  late,  for  as  soon 
as  she  commenced  to  back  she  struck 
the  schooner  just  forward  of  the  fore- 
rigging,  cutting  in  for  four  feet.  The 
schooner  filled  immediately  and  went 
down  in  about  thirty  feet  of  water.  The 
crew  of  five  men  just  had  time  to  get 
into  the  yawl.  The  mast  and  rigging,  as 
she  heeled  over  when  she  went  down, 
did  considerable  damage  to  the  pro- 
peller's   rail. 


92  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

On  August  22,  1879,  the  sloop  Mary  War- 
fier,  belonging  to  Captain  Hiram  Meeks, 
of  Fort  Montgomery,  and  carrying  brick 
from  Benjamin  Walsh's  yard  at  New  Wind- 
sor, was  beating  down  with  a  nice  breeze 
and  standing  to  the  eastward,  when  the 
steam  yacht  Nooya,  bound  up  under  a  full 
head  of  steam,  ran  into  the  sloop,  striking 
her  on  the  starboard  side,  forward  of  the 
mast.  The  yacht  being  sharp  and  built  of 
steel,  cut  half  way  through  the  sloop,  and 
she  sank  immediately.  The  crew  were  saved 
by  their  yawl.  The  yacht  was  very  badly 
damaged  and  had  just  time  to  run  ashore 
at  Verplanck's  Point,  where  she  filled  and 
settled  to  the  bottom. 


From  Captain  John  Pinckney  of  Low 
Point,  now  Chelsea,  formerly  captain  of 
the  schooner  Iron  Age,  running  from  the 
Manhattan  Iron  Works  at  New  York  for 
a  number  of  years,  I  get  the  following 
information : 


1 


Sail  7/5.  Steam  93/ 

The  j&rst  centreboard  used  on  the  Hudson 
River  was  introduced  by  Cornelius  Carman, 
who  was  a  builder  of  sail  and  steam  vessels    | 
at  Low  Point,  and  was  put  by  him  in  the    \ 
sloop  Freedom. 

The  first  jib-traveller  for  sloops  was 
invented  by  David  Hunt  of  Low  Point, 
who  was  a  sloop-boatman  from  that 
place  and  at  one  time  sailed  on  the 
packet  sloop  Matteawan,  running  from 
there. 

The  red  and  green  side-lights  for 
sail  ancf^steam  vessels  were  first  used 
on  the  river  in  1862,  and  were  intro- 
duced by  General  Benjamin  Butler  who 
was  interested  in  a  factory  that  made 
these  lights.  They  were  sold  for  $25.00 
a   set. 

The  firsJL_railway  for  hauling  out  sloops 
on  the  Hudson  was  put  down  at  Nyack  in 
1845.  Before  that  time,  vessels  would  go 
to  Cow  Bay,  Long  Island,  and  other  beaches 
to  caulk  and  paint  their  bottoms,  at  the 
end  of  the  season. 


94  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

A   List  of  Some  of  the  Old  Sloops  of  the 

Hudson  River  Compiled  by  Capt. 

m.  w.  collyer^ 

Ambassador,  of  Rondout 

Albert  Lewis,  built  in  1861  at  Nyack 

Asa  Bigelow,  of  Maiden 

Abraham  Cosgrove,  of  Croton 

Anna  Van  Cortlandt,  of  Croton 

Anna  Maria,  of  Newburgh 

Anna  V.  Willis,  of  Nyack 

Andes 

Annie  M.  Tower,  built  in  1871  at  Poughkeepsie 

Adaline  Townsend,  built  in  1854  at  Poughkeepsie 

Ann  Amelia,  built  in  1827  at  Southold,  N.  J. 

Anna  Maria,  built  at  Greenport 

American  System 

A  naconda 

Addison,  built  in  18 19  at  Coxsackie 

Abram  Jones 

Argus 

American  Eagle,  "^  of  Haverstraw 

Anna  Maria  No.  2. 

•  The  style  of  the  names  shows  a  progression  through 
the  sentimental,  the  patriotic  and  the  political,  then  to 
the  prosaic,  and  finally,  in  the  successors  to  the  sloops 
and  schooners,  we  reach  the  mere  numerical  in  the  big 
scow-barges  which  now  carry  upwards  of  five  hundred 
tons  of  brick  or  crushed  stone. — W.  E.  V. 

2  Built  by  John  I.  Woolsey,  and  was  the  fastest  sloop 
sailed  in  Haverstraw  Bay. — M.  W.  C. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  95 

Ariel 

Advocate 

Abraham  Lincoln,  built  in  1861  at  Haverstraw 

American  Star,  built  in  1853  at  Nyack 

Annie  E.  Leet,  built  at  Greenport,  L.  I. 

Belle,  built  by  Wm.  Collyer  at  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y. 

Bucktail  ^ 

Billow 

Benj.  Stagg,  built  in  1839  at  Newburgh 

Bridgeport,  of  Poughkeepsie 

Benj.  Aiken,  built  in  1836  at  Greenbush,  N.  Y. 

Benj.  Franklin'^  No.  2,  built  in  1831  at  Yonkers 

Bolivar,  of  New  Baltimore,  N.  Y. 

Betsey  &  Ann 

Benj.  Franklin,  built  in  1836  at  Huntington 

Bride,  of  Cornwall  on  Hudson 

Banner,  built  in  1859  at  Staten  Island 

Benj.  Brandeih,  built  in  1839  at  Sing  Sing,  by 

Sniffin 
Bronk,  built  in  1832 

>  This  was  the  name  appHed  to  the  Tammany  wing 
of  the  Democratic  party.  The  faction  was  opposed  to 
DeWitt  Clinton.  A  satirical  poem  called  Bucktail 
Bards,  aimed  at  Clinton,  was  written  and  published 
by  the  late  Gulian  C.  Verplanck  in  1819. — W.  E.  V. 

2  Benjamin  Franklin  Transportation  Co.  of  Yonkers 
takes  its  name  from  this  sloop;  she  was  a  packet  from 
Yonkers  in  1839.  Captain  Joseph  Peene,  her  master, 
was  the  father  of  the  Peene  brothers  now  operating 
this  line  from  Yonkers. —  M.  W.  C. 


96  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Charles  Lynch,  of  Rondout 

Canal,  of  Rondout 

diaries  Haddcn,  built  in  1853  at  Coxsackie 

Carrie  Gurnce,   formerly  First   Effort,  built    in 

1869  at  Rondout,  N.  Y. 
Controller 

Contrivance^  (scow),  built  in  1818  at  Jersey  City 
Congress,  of  Rondout 
Comet,  of  Spuyten  Duyvil 
Cadet  (periauger  rig  2) ,  of  West  Point 
Centurion,  of  Hastings 
Capitol,  of  Maiden 
Clermont,  of  Saugerties 
Commodore  Jones,  of  Fishkill 
Clarissa  Ann,  of  Rondout 
Ceres,  of  Hudson 
Cojnanche 
Carver,  of  Rondout 

>  She  was  owned  by  Daniel  Tompkins  who  brought 
her  from  Newark,  N.  J.,  to  Stony  Point  on  Hudson, 
and  used  by  him  in  the  brick  trade,  which  he  established 
in  the  neighborhood.  The  Contrivance,  though  a  flat- 
bottom  and  scow-model  sloop,  was  a  fast  sailer.  She 
held  the  river  until  1904,  when  she  was  sunk  in  colli- 
sion with  steamer  James  W.  Baldwin,  and  her  captain, 
Calvin  Delanoy,  of  Glasco,  was  drowned. — M.  W.  C. 

2  A  term  applied  on  the  North  River,  and  perhaps 
elsewhere,  to  vessels  with  two  masts,  but  without  bow- 
sprit or  headsail.  They  were  generally  small.  The 
Cadet  plied  between  Newburgh  and  West  Point  carry- 
ing supplies  for  the  Post.  Her  master  was  Capt. 
Cronk.— W.  E.  V. 


'■  ^^f^  - 


C^(c<^^     Ir^tuZ    t^l^,nSy       '■'  ^        '^^  A'^U'^,^ 


Sail  vs.  Steam  97 

Charles  D.  Belding,  of  Rondout 

Celerity,  built  in  1836  at  Nyack 

Councillor 

Chatham 

Convoy,  of  Nyack 

Caroline,  of  Fishkill  owned  by  J.  P.  De  Wint. 

China 

Canaan 

Congress,  built  in  1826  at  Coxsackie 

Clinton,  of  Glasco 

Catskill,  of  Catskill 

Climax 

David  Belknap,  of  Newburgh 

David  Sands,  ^  of  Newburgh 

Diamond  State,  of  Poughkeepsie 

Delaware,  of  Fishkill 

David  Munn,  of  Haverstraw 

Dart,  2  built  at  Nyack 

Daring,  built  in  1862  at  Poughkeepsie 

Exchange,^  of  Newburgh 
Eliza  Ann 
Esmeralda,  of  Croton 

»  While  anchored  in  New  York  harbor  was  run  into 
and  sunk  by  a  steamship  at  night.  No  one  saved  but 
her  captain,  WiUiam  Coleman. — M.  W.  C. 

*  A  very  smart  sloop,  owned  by  Captain  Vergil 
Coleman  of  Fishkill.— M.  W.  C. 

'Owned  by  Isaac  Quick;  lost  by  George  Miller  at 
Manhattanville,  N.  Y.— M.  W.  C. 
7 


98  Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Edward  Bigclow,  of  Maiden 

Eclipse 

Exertion,  of  Haverstraw 

Ellen  Eliza,  of  Haverstraw 

Emeline  ^ 

Emma 

Ella  Jane,  of  Harlem 

Entice 

First  Effort,  built  at  Sing  Sing 

Frances  Ann 

Flash  (periauger  rig) 

Franklin,  of  Poughkeepsie 

Florence 

Favorite 

Frances  Jane 

Fame 

General  Putnam 

General  Ward,  of  New  Hamburgh 

Globe 

Grand  Council 

Green  County  Tanner,  of  Catskill 

George  Law,  ^  of  Cornwall 

General  Van  Cortlandt,  of  Croton 

Garrett  I.  Demarest,  of  Nyack 

George  M.  Dallas,  built  at  Peekskill 

>  Emeline,  a  packet  from  Yonkers  in  1825 — Captain 
Isaac  Ruton. — M.  W.  C.  ,  . 

2  Carried  the  stone  for  High  Bridge  Aqueduct,  New 
York.— M.  W.  C. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  99 

General  Livingston 

General  Scott,  of  Cold  Spring 

General  Green 

Glide,  of  Nyack 

Gideon  Lee,  of  Maiden 

General  Montgomery 

Gloucester 

Henry  Edwards,  of  Newburgh 
Hendrickson,  of  Tarrytown 
Hunter  (scow-sloop),  of  Athens 
Henry  Soudder 
Huntress 

Henry  Barclay,  of  Poughkeepsie 
Hannah  Ann,  of  Glasco 
Harriet  P.  Ogden,  of  Hudson 
Henry  Gage 

Intrepid,  of  Highland  Falls 

Illinois,  of  Newburgh 

Iowa,  of  Rondout 

Independence  ^ 

Intelligence 

Index 

Isabella 

James  Coates,  of  New  Hamburgh 
Joseph  Hammond,  of  Cornwall 

'  Captain,  John  Garrison  of  Yonkers,  who  ran  her  as 
a  packet.     Built  in  1825. — M.  W.  C. 


loo       Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

John  Jay,  ^  of  Poughkeepsie 

James  Pollock,  of  Newburgh 

John  Marsh,  of  Wilbur 

Jane  Grant,  of  New  Hamburgh 

Jewel 

John  Henry 

Julia,  of  Poughkeepsie 

John  Jones,  of  Cold  Spring 

Joseph  Moran 

John  D.  Noyells,  of  Haverstraw 

John  T.  Beveridge,  of  Newburgh 

John  L.  Richards,  of  Saugerties 

Judge 

Jack  Downing 

James  R.  Sawyer,  of  Haverstraw 

John  I.  Woolsey,  of  Nyack 

Kemhle,  built  in  1825  at  Poughkeepsie 

Kamana 

Katrina  Van  Cortlandt,  of  Croton 

Kentucky 

Kinderhook 

Little  Martha,  built  in  1867  at  New  Hamburgh 

Lafayette 

Luzerne 

Lucy  Hopkins 

Linnet 

>  Later  of  Newburgh.     Captain  Isaac  Wood  was  her 
master. — M.  W.  C. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  loi 

Mohican,'^  built  in  1837  at  Peekskill 

Mary  Dallas,  of  New  Hamburgh 

Meridian 

Michigan 

Martin  Wynkoop,  of  Rondout 

Mary  Warner,  of  Fort  Montgomery 

Minnerley,  of  Rondout 

Mary  Willis,  of  Haverstraw 

Margaret,  built  in  1835  at  Sing  Sing 

Mary  Kemble 

Mad  Anthony 

Matteawan,  of  Low  Point 

Mary  Emma  (scow),  of  Cold  Spring 

Milan,  of  Rondout 

Marshall 

Martin  Van  Buren,  of  Croton 

Mechanic 

Martin  Hines,  of  Yonkers 

Miracle,  of  Haverstraw 

North  America  (a  scow),  of  Cornwall 

Newburgh,  of  Newburgh 

Nancy 

Noah  Brown 

Ney 

Nassau,  of  Saugerties 

New  Jersey,  of  Fishkill 

>  Her  "bones"  lie  off  my  residence  at  Chelsea  and 
serve  as  a  breakwater. — M.  W.  C. 


I02        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Napoleon 

Neptune,  of  Newburgh 

Oregon,  of  New  Windsor 

Orbit 

Orange  Packet,  of  Newburgh 

Oregon  No.  j,  of  Maiden 

Othello 

Ophelia,  of  Cornwall 

Oregon  No.  2 

Peter  R.  Valleau,  of  Poughkeepsie,  built  in  1829 

at  Nyack 
Progress 

Perry  Van  Cortlandt,  of  Croton 
Pell  C.  Vought 
Pearl 
Pilot 

Pennsylvania,  of  Maiden 
Pelie 

Perseverance,  of  Red  Hook 
Phcebe  Jane  Minnerley,  of  Rondout 

Quackenbush 

Revenge 
Rebecca  Ford 
Reindeer,  of  Athens 
Ralph  Van  Houghton 
Rising  Sun 


CAPTAIN   JOHN    LYON   COLLYER   LATE   OF   LOW   POINT 
From  a  photograph  by  F.  E.  Walker,  Fishkill-on-Hudson 


Sail  vs.  Steam  103 

Revenue,  of  Athens 

Rival,  of  Tivoli 

Richard  Davis,  of  Poughkeepsie 

Ransom,  of  Rondout 

Robert  North 

Superior 

Star 

Samuel  A.  Cunningham 

Samsondale,  ^  of  Newburgh 

Sophia  Ann 

Swift 

Sarah  Frances 

Samuel  Marsh  (scow-sloop) 

Stephen  G.  Beekman,  built  at  Nyack 

Surprise,  of  Poughkeepsie 

Specia 

Spy 

Sarah  Elizabeth 

Speaker 

Stamford 

Saginaw 

Superb 

Thomas  S.  Marvel,  of  Newburgh 
Thomas  Webb,  of  Cold  Spring 
Temperance 
Tremper 

>  Captain  George  Davis  Woolsey,  of  Newburgh,  was 
master  of  this  sloop. — W.  E.  V. 


I04        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Troubler,  *  of  Haverstraw 

Telegraph 

Thomas  Adams,  of  Rondout 

Tautcmio,  of  New  Hamburgh 

Twilight 

Utica,  of  Athens 
Unity 

Vought 

Victorine,  of  Cold  Spring 

Victory,  of  Athens 

Victoria 

William  W.  Reynolds,  of  Poughkeepsie 

William  Johnston 

Wonder 

William  Rohbins 

Walter  F.  Brewster,  2  of  Nev/burgh 

William  Bridger,  of  Rondout 

William  Nelson,  of  Croton 

Westchester 

William  H.  Hawkins,  of  Newburgh 

Warren 

Walter  Klotts,^  of  Rondout 

«  She  turned  out  to  be  slow  and  was  often  in  collision. 
— W.  E.  V. 

2  She  ran  into  the  Nyack  ferry  losing  her  mast  and 
sail  which  fell  over  the  walking  beam.  Capt.  Geo. 
D.  Woolsey  was  her  master. — M.  W.  C. 

2  Was  burned  at  Merchants'  Stores,  Brooklyn,  in 
1900.— M.  W.  C. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  105 

Westerlo,  of  Rondout 
Young  America 
Zenohia 

Schooners*  of  the  Hudson  op  1865  and  Later 
AS  Recalled  by  Capt.  M.  W.  Collyer 

A.  J.  Williams,  1868,  Staten  Island 
A.  O.  Zahriskie,  1840,  Piermont 
Adelaide,  Cornwall 
Albert  G.  Lawson,  1868,  Newburgh 
Allen  Gurnee,  Rondout 
Am^s  Briggs,  1868,  Cornwall 
Amos  T.  Allison,  1853,  Nyack 
Ann  M.,  Verplanck's  Point 
Annie,  1864,  Glenwood 
Annie  E.  Webb 
Armada,  Hudson 
Aihalia,  1884,  Newark 

Beniah  Watson,  Cornwall 
Buckeye,  1864,  Poughkeepsie 

C.  D.  Empson 

C.  P.  Schultze,  1863,  Poughkeepsie 

Capitol,  Maiden 

Carrie  McLane,  Fishkill 

Catharine  Du  Bois,  Hyler's  Landing,  185 1 

Charles  Atkinson,  1862,  Haverstraw 

J  Some  of  these  were  converted  from  sloops — M.  W.  C. 


io6        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Charles  Krudcr,  1873,  Haverstraw 
Clara  Post,  Rondout 
Clayton 
Columbia,  Rondout 

Daniel  Tompkins,  Stony  Point 
Dutchess,  Athens 

Edward  Ivans,  Fishkill 
Elizabeth  Washburn,  Haverstraw 
Elm  City,  ^  Newburgh 
Emma,  Cornwall 
Emma  I.  Southard,  Croton 
Evelina  Ross 

Fancy,  Low  Point 
Flying  Cloud,  Lewisburgh 
Francis  Corwin,  Cornwall 
Fred  Snow,  2  Piermont 

General  Torbett,  Croton 

George  A.  Brandreth,  1847,  Sing  Sing 

George  Hurst,  Rondout 

George  Knapp,  Haverstraw 

George  S.  Allison,  Stony  Point 

George  S.  Wood,  Haverstraw 

Glide,  1838,  Nyack 

Green  County  Tanner,^  1832,  Catskill 

•  Owned  at  one  time  by  Homer  Ramsdell  of  New- 
burgh.—M.  W.  C. 

2  Joseph  Tate,  captain. — M.  W.  C. 

3  She  was  originally  a  sloop. — M.  W.  C, 


Sail  vs.  Steam  107 

Hannah  E.  Brown^ 

Henrietta  Collyer,  Low  Point 

Henry  B.  Fidderman  2 

Henry  Clay,  1838 

Henry  Remsen,  1851,  Red  Bank 

Henry  Wardell,  1862,  Haverstraw 

Hester,  Poughkeepsie 

Honora  Butler,  Haverstraw 

Iris,  New  Hamburgh 

Iron  Age,  Low  Point 

Isaac  W.  Sherwood,  Haverstraw 

Isles  of  Pine,  Rondout 

James  Bolton 

Jane  N.  Ayers,  Fishkill 

Jane  Grant,  Rondout 

John  Brill,  Fishkill 

John  Forsythe,  Rondout 

John  Gould,  West  Camp 

John  Jay 

John  Jones,  Cold  Spring 

John  R.  Britt,  Newburgh 

Joseph  Hammond,  Cornwall 

Josie  Crowley 

Juliette  Terry,  Kingston 

Justus  C.  Earl,  Rondout 

1  Built  in  1 87 1  at  Newburgh;  still  running  on  the 
river.— M.  W.  C. 

'  The  first  vessel  of  which  Moses  W.  Collyer  became 
master.     She  was  about  90  tons'  capacity. — W.  E.  V. 


io8       Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Kate  &  Mary,  Rondout 

Lewis  R.  Mackey  ^ 

Libbie  W  or  tide  y,  Low  Point 

Lizzie  A.  Tolles 

Lottie  &  Annie,  Haverstraw 

Lucien,  Newburgh 

Lucy  Gurnee,  Rondout 

Lydia  White,  Low  Point 

Mad  Anthony,  Haverstraw,  built  1816 

Manchester  &  Hudson,  Rondout 

Marcus  L.  Ward 

Maria,  Haverstraw 

Maria  Hearn,  Fishkill  (see  footnote  2,  page  no) 

Marion  (scow-schooner),  Cold  Spring 

Matthew  B.  Vassar,  Poughkeepsie,  built  1855 

Minerva,  Hudson 

Minnie  C.  Post,  Rondout 

Missouri,  Cold  Spring 

Nellie  Bloomfield,  Newburgh 
Nicholas  Meyerhoff,  Croton 
Noah  Brown 
Norma,  Cold  Spring 

Oliver  H.  Booth,  1856,  Poughkeepsie 
Oregon  No.  2 

Potter  &  Hooper,  Haverstraw 
»  Was  a  very  fast  sailer — M.  W.  C. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  109 

Rebecca  &  Eliza,  Newburgh 
Richard  Washburn,  Haverstraw 
Richnwud,  of  Poughkeepsie 
Robert  A .  Forsythe,  ^  Newburgh 
Robert  Blair,  Haverstraw 
Robert  Knapp,  Haverstraw 

Sally  M.  Adkins 

Sarah  Jane  Gurnee,  Rondout 

Sarah  Quinn 

Seabird,  Sing  Sing 

Shamrock,  Haverstraw 

Sharpshooter 

T.  W.  Spencer,  Cornwall 

The  Florence,  Haverstraw 

Thomas  I.  Southard 

Thomas  J.  Owen,  Verplanck's  Point 

Thomas  Jefferson,  Fishkill 

Timothy  Wood,  Rondout 

Trimmer,  Maiden 

Uriah  F.  Washburn,  2  Haverstraw 

«  Built  in  1866  at  Newburgh,  and  ran  from  there  to 
Albany,  carrying  lumber  and  merchandise.  Her  cap- 
tain and  owner  was  Ambrose  Bradley,  who  had  the 
record  of  owning  a  greater  variety  of  vessels  than  any 
other  man  on  the  river.  His  brother  was  John  Bradley 
of  Low  Point.— M.  W.  C. 

2  Built  in  1866  at  Tompkins  Cove  by  Jake  Woolsey. 
— M.  W.  C. 


no        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Warren,  Verplanck's  Point 
William  A.  Ripley,  Low  Point 
William  E.  Peck,  Haverstraw 
William  H.  Baryies,  Haverstraw 
William  H.  Camp,  ^  Newburgh 
William  H.  Harrison 
William  M.  Evarts,  West  Camp 
William  Mayo,  Mayo 
Wm.  Voorhis 


The  Hudson  river  builders  of  some  of  these 
sloops  and  schooners  were : 

Timothy  Wood,  Milton 

John  I.  Woolsey,^  Haverstraw 

Jacob  Woolsey,  Tompkins  Cove 

Thomas  S.  Marvel,  Newburgh  and  Cornwall 

George  Polk,  Poughkeepsie 

Henry  Rodiman,  Cornwall 

James  P.  Voorhis,  Nyack 

Thomas  Collyer,  Sing  Sing 

William  Collyer,  Sing  Sing 

John  Felter,  Nyack 

John  G.  Perry,  Nyack 

«  Captain  Hank  Wilson. — M.  W.  C. 

2  Was  sunk  at  West  Point  by  steamer  Alicia  Wash- 
burn, in  the  deepest  water  of  the  Hudson,  which  is  225 
ft.     Her  captain  was  John  Paye  of  Fishkill. — M.  W.  C. 

J  Built  also  the  Victorine,  Wanderer,  American  Eagle, 
all  very  fast  sloops. — M.  W.  C. 


Sail  vs.  Steam  m 


Bulman  &  Brown,  Newburgh 
David  Sands,  Milton 
Cornelius  Carman,  ^  Low  Point 
William  Dickey,  Nyack 
Jefferson  McCausland,  Rondout 
Morgan  Everson,  Rondout 
Nicholas  Clair,  Maiden 
Deacon  Dorwin,  New  Windsor 

>  Inventor  of  the  centreboaxd. 


PART  III 

PERSONAL    REMINISCENCES    OF    CAPTAIN 
GEORGE    D.    WOOLSEY* 

I  BECAME  quite  familiar  with  the  names 
of  the  packet  sloops  sailing  from  Newburgh, 
for  at  this  time,  1825,  my  father  was  captain 
of  the  packet  sloop  Illinois  running  from 
Newburgh  to  New  York,  carrying  passengers 
and  produce  from  the  farms  and  sailing 
from  David  Crawford's  wharf  at  Newburgh. 

» George  Davis  Woolsey  was  born  at  Poughkeepsie 
on  the  12th  day  of  October,  1829,  and  died  at  New- 
burgh on  the  23d  day  of  March,  1900.  He  married 
Timna  Quick  of  Milton-on-Hudson.  They  had  four 
children:  Charles  D.,  who  died  in  infancy;  Charles  C, 
Anna  H.,  now  Mrs.  Cosman,  and  Harriet,  now  Mrs. 
Garner.  Mrs.  Woolsey,  the  widow,  is  now  living  on 
Grand  Street,  Newburgh. 

The  manuscript  from  which  these  reminiscences  were 
taken  was  in  a  fragmentary  condition  when  Mrs.  Wool- 
sey gave  it  to  Capt.  M.  W.  Collyer  for  publication.  So 
much  as  appears  here  is  all  that  was  available  or  deemed 
germane  to  the  subject  of  this  book. — W.  E.  V. 
112 


CAPTAIN   GEORGE   DAVIS   WOOLSEY   LATE   OF   NEWBURGH 
Reproduced  from  an  old  print 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  113 

There  were  also  the  sloops  Favorite,  1825, 
Orange  Packet y  1825,  Eclipse,  1825,  James 
Monroe,  1830,  Meridian,  1835,  David  Bel- 
knap, 1838,  Benjamin  Stagg,  1838,  and  the 
John  Beveridge,^  1838.  The  greater  num- 
ber of  these  vessels,  with  many  others  were 
built  here  at  the  village  of  Newburgh,  and 
at  Sand's  dock,  Milton,  before  my  recol- 
lection. However,  they  were  in  use,  and 
employed  in  the  freight  and  passenger 
business  from  Newburgh,  some  of  them 
before,  and  some  after  my  coming  on 
the  scene  of  action.  Mr.  Samuel  Wood, 
a  man  who  belonged  to  a  family  of  ship- 
builders, conducted  the  business  at  or  near 
the  foot  of  South  Street,  then  called  Academy 
Hill.  He  being  an  uncle  of  my  father,  by 
marrying  Grandfather  Woolsey's  sister,  has 
given  me  this  information.  Also,  I  have 
known  his  only  son,  who  was  quite  a  prom- 
inent and  successful  business  man  in  New 
York   City   until   his   death   in   the   fifties. 

'  Named  from  a  brewer  of  Newburgh,  whose  ale  was 
known  throughout  the  State. — W.  E.  V. 
8 


1 14        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

There  was  a  l^rother  also,  named  Timothy 
Wood,  conducting  the  ship-building,  either 
at  Athens  or  Coxsackie.  I  remember  of 
one  of  the  up-river  packets  being  named 
Timothy  Wood  in  his  honor. 

All  of  the  vessels  built  in  those  early  days 
were  very  sharp,  much  dead  rise,  deep  keel, 
with  great  draught  of  water.  For  vessels 
of  their  carrying  capacity,  the  Illinois  with 
a  capacity  of  about  135  or  140  tons,  when 
loaded,  had  a  draught  of  about  twelve  feet. 
Having  a  deep  keel  running  the  whole 
length  of  the  vessel,  and  of  much  greater 
depth  aft  than  forward,  the  man  who  was 
in  command,  or  sailing  master  of  these 
packets  must  necessarily  be  well  acquainted 
with  navigation  on  the  river,  conversant 
with  all  the  shoals,  sand-bars,  rocks,  and 
obstructions,  so  as  to  keep  them  from  ground- 
ing and  make  their  trips  regularly,  for  they 
were  advertised  to  sail  on  certain  days  from 
Newburgh,  and  also  from  New  York. 

The  old  packet  Illinois,  as  we  first  remem- 
ber her   construction,   had   a   cabin   about 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences   115 

half  the  length  of  the  vessel  for  the  accom- 
modation of  passengers,  two  after-cabins  or 
state-rooms,  altogether  in  both  cabins  some 
twenty-six  or  twenty-eight  berths.  The 
cabin  was  built  of  hard  wood,  much  of  it 
mahogany,  with  a  very  large  oval  mirror 
across  the  bulkhead,  separating  the  main 
cabin  from  the  state-rooms  aft.  Panels 
composed  of  mahogany,  mirrors  in  panels 
at  head  of  berths,  with  goldbead  around. 
She  had  a  very  long  companion-way,  with 
large  brass  signal  lamp  hanging  in  the  centre 
for  light  at  night,  and  a  floor  of  hard  wood, 
kept  very  white  and  clean.  Everything 
then,  known  for  the  comfort  of  the  passengers 
was  done  that  could  be  done.  There  was 
nearly  as  much  preparation  to  go  to  New 
York  then  on  a  packet,  as  people  make  now 
to  go  to  Europe.  The  women  brought  their 
sewing  to  fill  up  their  time  industriously, 
for  at  times  in  very  dull  weather,  the  packets 
would  be  some  two  days  on  the  passage. 
The  hold  of  the  packets  was  always  divided 
by  separate  bins  for  the  different  kinds  of 


ii6        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

grain  and  produce  brought  by  the  farmers. 
What  was  teiTned  the  forecastle,  the  place 
set  apart  for  culinary  purposes,  was  arranged 
much  after  the  manner  of  the  houses  of  that 
day,  having  a  chimney  and  fireplace  of 
brick,  also  a  mantel  over  the  fireplace,  and 
a  brick  hearth  in  order  to  keep  the  vessel 
from  fire.  There  were  four  berths  also 
in  the  forecastle  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  men  on  the  vessel.  Frequently  we 
would  have  the  Illinois  loaded  decks  to  the 
water,  especially  in  the  fall;  hold  full  of 
all  kinds  of  grain;  the  long  quarter-deck 
filled  with  butter,  dead  hogs,  and  often  I 
have  seen  a  sheep-pen  around  where  we 
used  to  steer,  full  of  sheep,  which  made  it 
nice  and  warm  for  the  man  at  the  helm 
in  cold  weather.  Frequently  we  would 
have  live-stock  on  the  main  deck,  lashed  to 
a  pole  running  fore  and  aft  from  mast  to 
quarter-deck.  In  fact  the  business,  if  my 
memory  serves  rightly,  increased  wonder- 
fully, so  that  I  have  seen  all  kinds  of  produce 
in  wagons,  waiting  for  their  turn  to  be  un- 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  117 

loaded,  standing  from  Crawford's  dock  up 
into  Water  Street,  for  some  distance,  and 
when  the  packets  were  thus  so  full  and 
heavily  loaded,  they  were  towed  to  New 
York,  for  there  were  steamboats  also,  of 
the  first  old  type,  running  from  Newburgh 
at  that  time,  which  we  will  mention  in  their 
proper  place. 

The  water-front  of  the  village  of  New- 
burgh, was  very  different  from  the  way  it 
is  now  situated — the  docks  having  all  been 
extended  out  into  the  river.  Once  we  had 
twenty-five  to  thirty-five  feet  of  water  all 
along  the  east  side  of  Front  Street,  having 
seen  the  whaling  ships  laying  where  the 
Erie  Freight  Depot  and  office  now  are.  The 
Highlander,  when  she  first  came,  about  1834 
or  1835,  had  her  dock  at  the  south  side  of 
First  Street,  where  the  public  sheds  now 
are.  B.  Carpenter's  dock  on  the  same  line 
of  Front  Street,  foot  of  Carpenter  Street. 
At  the  foot  of  First  Street  was  a  slip,  where 
John  McCormic  kept  boats  to  let.  Every 
available  space  along  the  docks  was  used 


ii8        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

for  ranks  of  wood  piled  there  for  the  use  of 
the  steamboats,  as  they  all  used  wood  for 
steaming  purposes,  there  then  being  no 
anthracite  coal. 

The  Illinois  used  to  lay  where  Cameron's 
lumber  office  now  is.  There  was  a  short 
pier  built  out  where  the  Long  Dock  now  is, 
for  the  Albany  boats  to  land  at.  The  New- 
burgh  and  Fishkill  ferry,  under  its  present 
effective  and  efficient  management,  has 
become  the  most  perfect  system  of  ferriage 
to  accommodate  the  public,  outside  of  New 
York  City.  Our  ferry  system  and  its  en- 
vironments have  indeed  kept  pace  with  the 
growth  and  prosperity  of  the  city.  Its 
progress  and  advance  date  back  in  my 
time,  since  its  purchase  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Powell,  about  1835.  Mr.  David  Crawford 
also  extended  a  dock  out  from  the  foot  of 
Third  Street  about  1836  or  1837,  for  the 
opposition  boats  running  from  New  York 
to  Albany  to  land  at.  The  next  dock  north 
of  and  adjoining  David  Crawford's,  was 
called    DeWint's    dock,    where     a    packet 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  119 

sailed  from.  Then  came  the  Oakley  and 
Davis  dock,  which  was  the  last  and  the 
farthest  north  of  the  regular  packet  and 
steamboat  docks  in  the  freighting  and 
forwarding  business  between  the  village 
and  New  York  City. 

While  I  am  giving  an  account  of  my 
recollections  of  the  old  sloop  packets  run- 
ning from  the  village  of  Newburgh,  probably 
it  will  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  mention 
the  fact,  that  a  few  years  before  my  time 
a  sloop  met  with  a  very  serious  and  dis- 
astrous accident.  It  was  the  sloop  Neptune. 
The  accident  caused  such  a  gloomy  and 
melancholy  feeling  through  the  village  and 
county,  that  it  was  some  time  before  it  was 
forgotten;  in  fact,  I  remember  its  being 
often  referred  to  by  the  men  on  the  vessels 
and  others.  If  I  remember  the  account 
correctly,  it  happened  in  this  manner: 
About  1824  or  1825,  late  in  the  fall,  about 
the  time  when  we  often  have  heavy  north- 
west winds,  which  make  it  very  dangerous 
navigating  through  the  Highlands,  the  sloop 


I20 


Sloops  of  the  Hudson 


left  New  York  with  about  fifty  tons  of  plaster, 
some  of  it  on  deck,  also  quantities  of  goods 
for  stores.  There  were  some  fifty  or  fifty- 
five  passengers,  men,  women,  and  children 
also  on  the  packet.  If  I  rightly  heard  the 
account,  the  captain,  whose  name  was  Hal- 
stead,  remained  in  New  York,  as  they 
frequently  did,  to  settle  up  and  collect  bills. 
The  man  in  charge,  or  sailing-master  of 
the  packet  was  John  Decker,  whom  I  well 
knew,  for  after  the  unfortunate  accident 
he  never  could  get  any  other  position  as 
sailing-master  on  the  packets  or  vessels,  and 
he  took  up  the  business  of  cartman  in  New 
York,  where  I  frequently  saw  him  in  my 
time,  as  he  used  to  cart  produce  from  the 
Illinois  and  other  packets.  He  was  a  very 
tall  and  powerfully  built  man,  about  six 
feet  two  or  three  inches  tall,  high  cheek- 
bones, very  large  bones,  hands  large  and 
drawn  somewhat  out  of  shape,  eyes  small 
and  red,  or  bloodshot.  He  was  rather  a 
remarkable  appearing  man,  I  being  young, 
and  knowing  of  the  prevailing  talk  about 


Capt.  VVoolsey's  Reminiscences  121 

him,  caused  me  to  notice  him  particularly, 
and  was  so  impressed  by  his  peculiar  look, 
I  can  thus  describe  him.  ^ 

The  packet  came  through  the  lower  part 
of  the  river  all  right,  although  it  was  blow- 
ing very  heavy  and  pufEy.  Coming  around 
West    Point    it    could    be    seen    from    Cold 


*  This  disaster  took  place  in  the  most  dangerous 
part  of  the  Worragat  or  Werrygut,  (there  is  no  settled 
spelling).  Perhaps  the  name  is  derived  from  the 
Dutch  word  Weer,  weather,  and  Gai,  a  hole  or  gut. 
This  reach  extends  from  Pollipel's  Island,  off  Storm 
King,  southward  to  Constitution  Island,  opposite  West 
Point,  a  distance  of  about  four  miles.  When  the  wind 
is  south  or  north — that  is,  parallel  with  the  course  of 
the  river,  no  difficulty  is  experienced  by  sailing  vessels, 
no  matter  how  fresh  it  blows.  It  is  the  westerly  winds, 
either  N.W.  or  S.W.,  that  cause  trouble.  For  instance, 
a  sloop  may  be  close-hauled  passing  through  New- 
burgh  Bay,  beating  down  against  a  fresh  southwester. 
Before  Cornwall  is  reached  the  sheets  can  be  started, 
and  as  she  passes  into  the  Worragat  the  wind  will 
be  fair,  with  occasional  heavy  flaws  from  the  west, 
and  I  have  even  had  to  jibe  back  and  forth  when  pass- 
ing Little  Stony  Point.  The  fair  wind  holds  until  West 
Point  is  reached,  then  it  becomes  dead  ahead  to  the 
north  end  of  the  Race.  Here  the  wind  is  fair  again, 
which  will  carry  the  sloop  out  of  the  Highlands, 
past  Verplanck's  and  Stony  Points,  and  into  the 
broad  waters  of  Haverstraw  Bay  and  Tappan  Zee 
where  it  is  plain  sailing  again. — W.   E.   V. 


122        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Spring  up  through  to  Pollipel's  Island  that 
the  heavy  puffs  were  very  dangerous,  there- 
fore requiring  the  utmost  skill  in  navigating 
and  handling  the  vessel.  When  off  Little 
Stony  Point  where,  when  blowing  from  the 
northwest,  there  is  always  much  heavier 
gusts  of  wind  than  anywhere  else  in  the 
Highlands,  as  the  wind  comes  rushing  down 
through  the  low  valley  between  Storm  King 
and  the  Crow's  Nest  on  the  south  (what 
we  then  used  to  call  Mother  Cronk's  Cove) 
the  wind  often  comes  with  such  force  that 
it  picks  the  water  up  as  it  comes,  but  it 
always  gives  warning,  for  you  can  see  the 
impression  on  the  water,  and  hear  the  roar 
as  it  comes.  Then  the  careful  navigator, 
with  good  judgment,  will  be  prepared  to 
meet  it  by  having  good  steerage  way  on  his 
vessel,  and  getting  the  head-sail  in  before 
it  strikes  the  vessel.  It  appears  by  the 
account,  that  Decker  had  the  Neptune 
double-reefed  at  the  time,  but  did  not  get 
in  the  head-sail,  therefore  when  the  heavy 
squall  struck  the  packet  she  went  over  and 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  123 

down  so  low  that  the  plaster  shifted,  and 
into  the  forecastle  companionway,  which 
was  forward  and  on  the  starboard  side,  the 
water  began  to  rush  and  she  filled  and  sunk. 
Out  of  the  fifty  or  fifty-five  passengers  and 
the  crew,  I  believe  there  were  but  sixteen 
or  eighteen  saved.  I  think  that  the  late 
Levi  D.  Woolsey  was  on  board  and  was 
saved.  The  late  Captain  John  Polhemus 
had  a  brother,  Jacob  Polhemus,  who  was 
employed  on  the  packet,  and  was  drowned 
in  trying  to  save  a  lady.  I  remember  that 
his  widow  afterwards  married  a  Judge 
Bates,  who  resided  on  Montgomery  Street, 
between  Fourth  and  Fifth  streets. 

This  serious  accident  was  long  remembered 
and  talked  of  in  the  village.  The  Neptune 
was  raised  and  sold  off  to  the  east  end  of 
Long  Island,  at  Sag  Harbor,  a  port  where 
whale  ships  were  owned  and  fitted  out;  also, 
they  discharged  their  oil  there  instead  of 
going  to  New  York  with  it.  The  owners 
bought  the  Neptune,  and  she  was  kept  in 
the    business    of    carrying    hogsheads    and 


124        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

barrels  of  oil  from  Sag  Harbor  to  New  York 
for  years  afterwards,  as  I  have  frequently 
seen  her  coming  into  New  York,  loaded  with 
oil.  I  think  she  was  kept  carrying  oil  until 
the  business  of  bringing  oil  to  Sag  Harbor 
ceased. 

Formerly  the  business  of  freighting  and 
forwarding  on  the  River  and  Long  Island 
Sound  was  done  exclusively  by  sailing 
vessels  or  packets,  as  they  were  called, 
before  and  about  the  time  the  first  steam- 
boats were  built.  Steam  was  destined  to 
make  and  produce  a  great  change  in  the 
affairs  and  business  on  both  water  and 
land.  As  steamboats  began  to  be  built, 
multiply,  and  increase  in  numbers  and 
efficiency,  they  were  in  a  few  years  much 
improved  from  those  built  before  my 
time.  I  remember  most  of  the  first  steam- 
boats built  for  and  employed  on  the 
River.  They  were  still  in  active  service 
when  I  came  on  the  scene  of  action.  Some 
of  those  first  old  steamers  were  bought 
and  used  in  conjunction  with  the  packets 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  125 

here  at  Newburgh,  in  carrying  the  produce 
and  passengers  to  New  York.  Probably 
twenty-five  or  twenty-six  years  had  inter- 
vened from  the  first  steamboat,  the  Cler- 
mont, in  1807  or  1808,  up  to  the  standpoint 
which  I  take.  During  the  interval  there 
had  been  quite  a  number  of  steamboats 
built.  The  Providence,  one  of  the  first  built 
for  use  between  New  York  and  Providence, 
was  soon  superseded,  and  her  place  taken 
by  something  superior  which,  if  I  am  rightly 
informed,  was  the  Chancellor  Livingstone 
and  the  United  States,  and  they  also,  in  due 
time,  the  same  as  the  Providence  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  Hudson  River.  The  steam- 
boat Providence  in  conjunction  with  the 
sloops  Favorite  and  the  James  Monroe  made 
their  regular  trips  from  Oakley  and  Davis's 
dock,  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
business  at  that  time  was  done  from  New- 
burgh, controlling  a  vast  extent  of  territory, 
Orange  County,  the  lower  part  of  Ulster, 
Sullivan,  and  Delaware  counties. 

Captain  Levi  D.  Woolsey  was  captain  of 


126        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

the  Providence.  Having  been  personally- 
acquainted  with  Captain  Woolsey,  and  often 
conversed  with  him  in  regard  to  his  early 
days  and  life,  I  remember  him  as  a  man  of 
firm  decision  of  character,  strictly  on  the 
line  of  justice  and  equity,  careful,  also 
watchful  in  his  business  relationship.  His 
branch  of  the  Woolsey  family,  like  all  of  that 
name  in  this  country,  came  from  one  original 
stock,  who  came  to  this  country  in  1623 
and  settled  at  Flushing,  Long  Island,  where 
they  owned  a  plantation  and  were  es- 
tablished. From  this  head  or  stock  came 
the  numerous  branches  of  the  Woolsey 
family.  The  branch  to  which  Captain  Levi 
D.  Woolsey  and  Captain  Elijah  L.  Woolsey 
belonged,  settled  in  Ulster  County,  from 
whence  have  come  numerous  descendants. 
Captain  Woolsey  lived  to  an  advanced  age, 
residing  at  Newburgh  with  his  children 
until  he  died  in  the  year  1888,  having  been 
born  in  1800. 

From  David   Crawford's  dock  sailed  the 
Illinois,  of   which   Captain   John   Polhemus 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  127 

was  at  first  master,  and  in  1835  succeeded 
by  Captain  Elijah  L.  Woolsey,  the  steam- 
boat Baltimore,  Captain  Robert  Wardrop, 
was  in  conjunction,  making  trips  regularly 
Wednesday  from  Newburgh  and  Saturday 
from  New  York.  Often  the  packet  had  so 
much  freight,  it  was  necessary  to  be  towed 
by  the  steamer.  At  Benjamin  Carpenter's 
dock,  which  was  the  first  dock  south  of  the 
ferry,  the  steamboat  William  Young  made 
regular  trips  once  a  week.  The  captain 
of  this  steamer,  I  believe,  was  named  Hal- 
stead,  not  the  Captain  Charles  Halstead  of 
later  years,  but  the  one  who  was  captain 
of  the  sloop  Neptune  at  the  time  of  her  cap- 
sizing some  years  before  off  Little  Stony 
Point. 

I  do  not  remember  any  packet  in  con- 
junction with  the  steamer  William  Young. 
The  steamer  James  Madison,  Captain  Perry, 
about  the  year  1836  or  1837  was  built  to 
take  her  place,  and  the  William  Young  was 
then  taken  to  Low  Point  and  commenced 
freighting    from    there,    if    memory    serves 


128        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

rightly,  in  the  place  of  the  sloop  packet 
Mattcawan.  About  this  time  also,  I  remem- 
ber there  was  a  change  at  David  Crawford's 
dock.  The  steamboat  Washington  had  been 
built  to  take  the  place  of  the  steamer  Bal- 
timore. Captain  Charles  Johnston  was  the 
first  captain  of  the  steamer  Washington. 
He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Johnston, 
who  was  so  long  pastor  of  the  First  Presby- 
terian Church  in  the  village.  Some  few  years 
before  these  new  steamers  came  to  New- 
burgh,  a  Captain  Chase  had  the  sloop  Eclipse, 
running  regularly  to  New  York  from  De 
Wint's  dock,  just  north  of  D.  Crawford's 
dock,  and  about  the  year  1838  or  1839  the 
sloop  David  Belknap  was  built  to  take  the 
place  of  the  sloop  Eclipse.  Captain  Simonson 
was  her  captain.  They  also  had  the  steam- 
boat Norfolk,  Captain  Charles  Johnston 
having  become  associated  with  Captain 
Simonson,  commanded  the  steamer  Norfolk. 
The  sloop  David  Belknap  was  frequently 
towed  by  the  Norfolk.  I  remember  that 
the  David  Belknap  was  a  few  years  after  sold 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  129 

to  parties  in  New  York  and  converted  into 
a  schooner,  she  being  staunch,  well-built, 
of  good  shape  and  dimensions,  heavily  tim- 
bered, thoroughly  treenailed  and  fastened. 
She  was  used  a  number  of  years  as  a  coasting 
vessel  and  regular  packet  from  New  York 
to  Charleston  and  Savannah,  as  I  frequently 
saw  her  after,  in  that  business,  laying  at  or 
near  Pier  8  or  10  East  River,  discharging 
and  receiving  freight  for  Southern  coastwise 
ports. 

Before  Captain  Simonson  became  asso- 
ciated with  Captain  Charles  Johnston  in 
business  at  De  Wint's  dock,  about  the  year 
1835  or  1836,  he  was  captain  of  the  sloop 
Meridian,  then  running  from  Oakley  and 
Davis's  dock.  This  firm  having  disposed 
of  the  steamboat  Providence,  had  the  steamer 
Superior,  Captain  James  H.  Leeds,  running 
also  to  New  York. 

There  was  a  steamboat  running  from 
either  De  Wint's  or  Oakley  and  Davis's 
dock  later  on,  say  from  1838  to  1840,  by 
the  name  of  General  Jackson.     I  remember 


130        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

her  running  from  Newburgh,  but  cannot 
fairly  say  where  from.  At  the  south  part 
of  the  village,  adjoining  the  Whaling  Dock 
on  the  north,  Thomas  Powell  &  Company 
had  a  line  for  freight  and  passenger  boats 
to  New  York,  but  I  do  not  remember 
their  having  any  sloop  packets.  The  first 
steamboat  which  I  call  to  mind  of  theirs 
was  the  Highlander,  which  was  built  expressly 
for  this  company  at  Philadelphia  about  the 
year  1834  or  1835.  She  was  greatly  in 
advance  and  superior  to  all  other  steamers 
then  built.  She  had  the  same  old  style  of 
square  stern  which  at  that  time  was  so 
much  in  vogue.  In  a  few  years,  however, 
the  designers  overcame  and  gave  a  more 
symmetrical  shape  to  the  stern  and  after 
part  of  the  steamers.  The  steamers  of 
former  build  w^ere  full  forward,  having  much 
the  shape  of  the  sailing  vessels,  but  the 
Highlander  was  quite  different,  having  a 
sharp  bow,  and  carrying  this  sharpness 
well  aft.  She  also  had  more  shear  than 
they  had   formerly  given  to  the  steamers. 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  131 

Her  engine  was  more  powerful,  having  a 
walking-beam,  but  I  cannot  say  how  much 
stroke,  but  it  was  more  than  usual.  She 
made  the  passage  to  New  York  in  better 
time  than  the  former  boats,  say  some  five 
hours.  She  had  more  steam  room  also, 
having  two  boilers,  one  on  each  side  of  the 
boat.  The  accommodation  for  passengers 
had  been  greatly  increased.  On  the  whole 
the  Highlander  was  much  in  advance  of  the 
former  steamers.  When  she  first  came  to 
Newburgh  the  steamers  still  used  wood 
for  steaming  purposes,  but  it  was  not  long 
after  she  came  that  anthracite  coal  was 
discovered,  and  soon  brought  to  market  by 
the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  Company 
in  large  lumps,  just  as  taken  from  the  mines, 
therefore  the  people  who  used  it,  had  to 
break  it  up  small  for  use. 

Steamers  rapidly  increased  in  number 
both  on  Long  Island  Sound  and  the  Hudson 
River.  I  will  mention  others  of  the  old 
ones,  as  they  were  familiar  to  me,  having 
seen  the  most  of  them,  and  those  which  I 


132        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

have  not  seen,  I  was  conversant  with  by 
hearing  others  discuss  their  merits,  good 
qualities  and  speed,  for  it  was  expected 
that  every  new  steamer  that  came  out  was 
to  be  superior  to  the  last,  especially  in  speed. 
My  father.  Captain  Elijah  L.  Woolsey,  who 
often  told  us  of  his  early  life,  commenced 
business  on  the  river  on  the  packet  sloop 
Intelligence,  from  New  Paltz,  now  called 
Highland,  some  time  before  I  was  born, 
sailing  from  there  some  few  years.  He 
afterwards  engaged  with  Richard  Davis 
&  Sons,  who  owned  what  they  called  the 
Lower  Dock  at  Poughkeepsie,  carrying  on 
the  freighting  business  very  extensively. 
They  had  one  of  the  largest,  and  as  was 
conceded  at  that  time  and  for  years  after, 
the  fastest  vessel  afloat.  She  was  named 
the  Richard  Davis,  after  the  senior  owner 
of  the  concern.  She  was  a  surprise  and  a 
wonder  to  all  who  went  on  the  water.  My 
father  sailed  her  for  some  years,  and  while 
he  was  on  this  packet  from  Poughkeepsie 
I  first  saw  the  light,  and  was  named  for  or 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  133 

by,  one  of  the  sons,  George  Davis  Woolsey. 
The  Davises  were  progressive  people,  and  up 
to  the  times,  and  therefore  in  due  time  they 
sold  the  packet,  Richard  Davis,  and  bought 
the  steamboat.  Lady  Richmond,  on  which 
my  father  was  pilot.  I  have  heard  him  tell 
of  going  down  with  her  in  December,  prob- 
ably the  last  trip  for  that  year,  loaded  very 
deep  with  produce,  especially  tons  of  poultry 
and  game.  The  ice  cut  the  oakum  or  caulk- 
ing out  of  the  seams,  and  it  was  leaking 
so  badly  they  had  to  put  her  ashore  just 
below  Tarry  town,  where  she  filled,  and 
much  of  her  valuable  cargo  was  lost  or 
destroyed.  The  old  packet  Richard  Davis 
was  still  in  use  in  my  time.  I  remember 
her  being  rebuilt  somewhere  up  the  river, 
and  had  her  name  changed  to  James  Haddon. 
There  was  a  number  of  steamers  built 
for  Long  Island  Sound,  run  there  a  few 
years,  and  then  transferred  to  the  River. 
Whether  the  Lady  Richmond  was  one  of 
those,  I  cannot  say,  but  the  Philadelphia 
and    United  States  both  were,   and   trans- 


134        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

fcrred  to  the  Hudson  River  and  put  on  the 
night  line  between  New  York  and  Albany, 
calling  the  Philadelphia  the  New  Philadel- 
phia, landing  at  Newburgh  where  the  Long 
Dock  is.  Old  Mr.  Casterline  was  the  general 
agent  at  Newburgh.  Both  vessels  were  after- 
wards used  as  towboats,  towing  from  New 
Brunswick.  The  Philadelphia  being  in  use 
the  longest  time.  The  United  States  was 
broken  up  about  1840. 

There  was  an  opposition  line  also  landing 
at  Mr.  David  Crawford's  dock,  the  Ohio 
with  two  walking-beams,  two  separate 
engines,  the  Constitution  and  Constellation. 
This  opposition  was  a  night  line  also.  The 
day  line  of  steamers  from  New  York  to 
Albany  were  the  Novelty  and  Champion, 
two  fast  boats  for  their  day.  The  steamer 
Albany  was  afterwards  on  the  day  line  to 
Albany.  She  had  a  beam-engine,  with 
increased  speed  and  power,  and  was  rebuilt 
in  the  year  1837  or  1838,  with  quite  a  long, 
low  false  stern,  carrying  a  yawl-boat  turned 
bottom  up  on  it.    The  Champlain  and  Erie 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  135 

were,  as  near  as  I  can  remember,  kept  on 
the  day  line  from  New  York  to  Albany 
until  about  the  year  1842. 

I  must  not  omit  to  notice  the  Swiftsure 
Line  running  from  Albany.  I  remember 
their  boats  very  clearly,  having  often  seen 
them — the  Commerce,  the  Swiftsure,  and  the 
Oliver  Ellsworth.  All  of  them  had  cross- 
head  engines.  They  all  towed  what  they 
called  safety-barges,  carrying  freight  and 
passengers.  I  think  the  object  of  towing 
the  safety-barges  was,  as  they  claimed,  the 
greater  safety  of  the  property  and  passengers 
entrusted  to  them.  They  all  became  tow- 
boats  on  the  river.  The  Oliver  Ellsworth 
was  cut  through  in  Newburgh  bay  by  the 
ice,  some  years  ago,  and  was  run  ashore 
and  sunk  just  below  the  Danskammer. 
The  Commerce  was  rebuilt  in  the  year  1855, 
name  changed  to  Ontario,  and  used  as  a 
tow-boat  until  late  years.  The  Swiftsure 
was  worn  out  some  years  before.  About 
this  time  the  steamer  De  Witt  Clinton  was 
running  on  the  night  line  to  Albany,  but 


136        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

I  do  not  remember  which  line  she  belonged 
to.  However,  some  time  in  the  forties  she 
was  dismantled,  her  hull  used  as  a  barge, 
her  engine,  which  was  a  good  one,  placed  in  a 
new  hull,  and,  if  I  remember  rightly,  she 
was  then  named  the  Knickerbocker. 

There  were  opposition  lines  of  steamers 
also  on  Long  Island  Sound.  There  had  been 
large  sloop  and  schooner  packets  running 
from  all  of  the  principal  places,  like  Bridge- 
port, New  Haven,  up  the  Connecticut  to 
Hartford,  New  London,  Providence,  and 
Fall  River.  I  have  some  of  the  packets  now 
in  mind,  and  they  were  staunch  and  splendid 
vessels,  running  to  New  York.  There  were 
regular  packets  also  established,  running 
from  Albany  to  all  of  the  Eastern  ports  and 
cities  of  any  size.  They  always  loaded  to 
their  fullest  capacity  with  feed,  flour,  and 
all  kinds  of  produce.  Albany  was  a  lively, 
teeming  city  at  that  time,  vessels  laying 
six  to  eight  abreast,  especially  in  the  fall 
months.  Plenty  of  freight,  many  anxious 
to  get  vessels  to  load  for  all  ports  on  the 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  137 

River  or  Sound,  paying  excellent  prices. 
But  the  change  came  on  Long  Island  Sound, 
the  same  as  on  the  Hudson,  by  the  intro- 
duction of  steam  and  steamboats.  It  came 
somewhat  slower  to  the  East  than  on  the 
River.  The  Eastern  people  were  more  at- 
tached to  their  vessels.  Also,  the  vessels 
at  that  time  were  considered  more  safe  to 
carry  their  goods  and  produce,  as  they  were 
thought  more  seaworthy  than  the  steamers 
that  were  then  built.  It  must  be  remembered 
that  the  steamboat  of  fifty  or  sixty  years 
ago  was  a  very  crude  affair,  in  an  unfinished, 
rough  state,  to  what  they  became  after- 
wards. The  elements  were  also  much  greater 
to  contend  with  on  the  Sound  and  down 
the  coast  around  Point  Judith,  and  also  to 
New  Bedford  and  Boston. 

I  suppose  there  are  many  alive  to-day 
who  remember  the  terrible,  unfortunate 
accident  on  January  13,  1840,  in  a  blinding, 
northeast  snow-storm,  when  somewhere 
between  Oldfield  Light  and  Horton's  Point 
the  steamboat  Lexington,  with  many  pas- 


138        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

sengers  on,  and  loaded  with  store  goods  and 
numerous  bales  of  cotton,  bound  from  New 
York  to  Providence,  caught  fire,  burned  up, 
and  with  no  help  for  the  unfortunate  people 
on  board.  But  three  or  four  were  saved  of  all 
the  souls  on  board,  and  those  endured  the 
elements  and  suffered  worse  than  death, 
lashed  to  a  bale  of  cotton,  and  were  for 
hours  adrift  and  were  not  rescued,  and 
finally  went  ashore  on  the  Long  Island 
shore.  There  was  one  of  the  Woolsey 
family  on  board  and  lost,  who  lived  at 
Norwich,  Connecticut,  and  left  a  widow 
and  seven  children.  This  accident,  I 
remember,  cast  a  gloom  over  all,  and 
was  much  conversed  about  through  this 
section  of  the  country. 

On  the  opposition  line  between  New  York 
and  Providence,  was  the  steamboat  John 
W.  Richmond,  which  was  built  about  the 
year  1838.  She  was  of  an  improved  type, 
something  superior  to  the  Lexington,  which 
had  been  built  some  years  before.  The 
name  of  this  steamer  brings  to  my  recol- 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  139 

lection  a  peculiar  and  singular  incident 
which  I  will  relate.  About  the  year  1800, 
and  some  years  after,  there  was  living  in  the 
city  of  Providence  a  very  prominent  and 
influential  citizen  who  v/as  a  leader  in  the 
city's  municipal  affairs.  He  also  was  a 
popular  and  successful  physician,  having 
acquired  a  competency;  he  having  stock 
in  the  opposition  line,  this  steamer,  John 
W.  Richmond,  was  named  for  him.  He  had 
also  in  his  possession  much  of  the  State  of 
Rhode  Island's  Revolutionary  Debt,  in  bonds 
and  stocks.  I  frequently,  when  on  my 
trips  eastward,  bound  around  Point  Judith, 
would  stop  at  Stonington,  a  city  at  the 
east  end  of  Fisher's  Island  Sound,  near  the 
state  line  of  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut, 
it  being  the  terminus  of  the  Stonington 
line  of  steamers,  connecting  by  railroad  to 
Providence,  Boston,  or  any  points  east- 
ward. In  thick,  foggy  weather  it  was  very 
convenient  to  stop  there;  although  the 
harbor  is  not  so  large,  it  is  quite  safe,  having 
a  good  breakwater  on  the  west,  which  has 


I40        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

been  greatly  improved  since  I  have  been 
down  that  way,  the  government  has  ex- 
tended it  much  further  to  the  south,  out  in 
the  Sound,  and  made  it  higher.  The  holding- 
ground,  or  anchorage,  is  very  good  indeed, 
so  that  in  ordinary  weather  it  is  a  good 
harbor  for  vessels  that  are  not  too  large. 
On  one  of  my  many  trips  eastward  about 
the  year  1874,  it  being  very  thick  weather, 
I  stopped  at  Stonington,  as  was  my  custom, 
as  I  had  leisure.  It  also  being  my  custom 
to  see  what  I  could  learn,  I  wandered  off 
in  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  near  the  State 
line,  I  came  across  an  old  burial  place  which 
had  been  used  by  the  people  of  Stonington 
for  many  years;  in  fact,  it  was  selected  as 
the  first  burial  place  for  the  town.  A  few 
years  before  1874,  as  the  town  had  grown 
to  a  city  and  the  population  increased, 
they  bought  other  grounds  situated  in  a 
different  section,  and  rural  and  modern 
in  appearance.  In  the  old  grounds  I  saw 
but  one  tall  white  marble  shaft  and  the  only 
one  in  the  old  place,  my  curiosity  led  me  to 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  141 

go  and  examine  it,   and   I   found   this  in- 
scription on  one  of  the  four  sides: 

"  Henrietta  Richmond,  wife  of  John  W.  Rich- 
mond, born  November  29th,  1782,  died  July 
17th,  1849."  Oil  the  opposite  side  of  the  shaft 
was  this  inscription,  "Doctor  John  W.  Rich- 
mond, born  September  25th,  1775,  died  March 
4th,  1857.  When  Rhode  Island  by  her  legislation 
from  1844  to  1850  repudiated  her  Revolution- 
ary Debt,  Doctor  Richmond  removed  from 
that  state  to  this  Borough,  and  selected  this 
as  his  family  burying  place,  unwilling  that  the 
remains  of  himself  and  family  should  be  dis- 
graced by  being  a  part  of  the  common  earth 
of  a  repudiating  state." 

On  the  other  two  sides  of  the  shaft  was  an 
inscription  of  the  birth  and  death  of  his 
children,  which  I  did  not  copy.  It  appears, 
as  I  was  informed  afterwards,  that  he  had 
some  ten  or  twelve  thousand  dollars  of  the 
State  of  Rhode  Island's  Revolutionary  script 
or  certificates,  and  during  these  years  men- 
tioned, between  1844  and  1850,  he  had  been 
offered  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar  for  them, 


14-        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

but  refused  to  take  it,  and  when  the  State 
repudiated  the  whole  debt,  he  of  course, 
lost  all,  so  he  would  not  be  disgraced  by 
being  buried  in  the  soil  of  a  repudiating 
State. 

My  many  calls  at  Stonington  for  a  har- 
bor, caused  me  to  become  well  acquainted 
with  many  of  her  first  and  influential  citizens. 
Many  old,  retired  sea-captains  and  sailors, 
especially  those  having  been  in  and  on 
whaling  vessels  for  years  had  gained  a 
competency  and  lived  there.  One  sailor  in 
particular,  who  had  spent  the  most  and  the 
younger  part  of  his  life  on  whaling  ships 
fitting  out  at  New  London,  I  became  very 
intimate  with  indeed,  and  we  were  near  and 
familiar  associates  and  friends.  His  name 
was  Captain  George  S.  Brewster,  living  in 
a  beautiful  mansion  that  was  situated  on 
raised  ground,  near  the  water,  having  a 
clear  view  of  the  harbor,  Fisher's  Island 
Sound,  Watch  Hill,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
east  of  Montauk  Point,  in  clear  weather. 
A  very  fitting  place  for  an  old  sea-captain 


Capt,  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  143 

who  had  been  tossed  about  by  old  Neptune, 
and  who  had  weathered  many  a  rough  sea, 
to  spend  the  few  remaining  days  that  he, 
through  the  kindness  of  Providence,  had 
allotted  to  him,  for  Captain  Brewster  was 
a  very  old  man  when  I  first  met  him  about 
the  year  1870,  being  not  far  from  seventy- 
eight  years  of  age.  I  had  learned  to  love 
him  because  he  had  a  firm,  peculiar  char- 
acter and  will,  and  this  will  controlled  a  deep 
sense  of  justice,  right  doing,  and  equity, 
no  selfishness  or  prejudiced  ideas,  but  gen- 
tleness, with  charity  and  love  for  all. 
Whether  others  differed  with  him  in  opinion, 
or  not,  his  kindness  was  always  most  prom- 
inent; he  was  the  type  of  a  true,  honest, 
Christian  man. 

In  order  to  give  to  those  who  peruse 
these  reminiscences  of  my  life,  an  intelligent 
idea  of  the  childlike  simplicity,  the  whole- 
hearted Christian  love  that  controlled  the 
old  sailor,  I  will  quote  the  last  paragraph, 
or  closing  part  of  the  last  letter  which  I 
received  from  the  old  sailor  in  the  year  1878, 


144        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

January  14th,  for  he  did  not  live  long  after 
this  letter  was  written : 

"  We  will  remember  you  in  our  prayers,  that 
you  may  be  blessed  and  kept;  never  pass  us  by 
without  calling,  if  you  can  possibly  do  so  without 
neglect  of  duty.  We  shall  all  be  so  glad  to  see 
you,  and  all  send  kind  Christian  salutations. 
Make  my  house  your  home  whenever  you  come 
this  way.  Dear  wife  and  Minnie  send  love  and 
good  wishes,  with  an  interest  in  your  prayers. 
God  bless  you  and  yours." 

I  know  that  there  was  no  deceit,  dis- 
sembling, or  hypocrisy  about  this  old  friend 
and  sailor.  As  far  as  my  observation  goes, 
this  type  of  true  Christian  manhood  is  in 
the  past  and  obsolete.  Before  I  close  the 
narrative  of  Captain  Brewster,  I  will  relate 
as  briefly  as  possible  the  manner  of  my 
first  acquaintance  with  him.  On  one  of  my 
trips,  bound  eastward  around  Point  Judith, 
it  being  thick  weather  the  last  of  the  week, 
I  stopped  for  a  harbor  at  Stonington.  I 
recollect  I  went  ashore  on  Sunday  morning 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  145 

to  find  a  meeting  of  some  kind.  In  wander- 
ing along  the  Main  Street,  out  towards  the 
Point  where  the  lighthouse  stood,  I  came  to 
a  house  or  little  chapel  with  this  inscription 
on  the  doors,  "Holiness  to  the  Lord,"  and 
on  the  windows  was  written  the  time  of 
preaching  and  the  time  of  their  social  meet- 
ings. As  I  approached,  there  was  ar  old 
man  sweeping  the  dust  and  dirt  from  the 
stoop.  He  perceiving  me  to  be  a  stranger, 
also  a  man  engaged  on  the  water,  for  they 
always  can  detect  each  other,  saluted  me 
in  a  very  pleasant  and  kindly  manner.  There 
was  not  a  very  lengthy  conversation,  before 
we  commenced  to  understand  each  other; 
the  result  was  that  I  became  acquainted 
with  the  little  society,  and  often  visited 
them  afterwards,  always  making  his  home 
my  home  when  in  the  harbor,  and  many 
pleasant  scenes  and  incidents  occurred  when 
there.  The  little  company  of,  say  fifty 
to  sixty-five,  had  been  Baptist,  which  was 
the  principal  denomination  in  Stonington, 
the  old  sailor  being  one  of  the  elders  and 


146        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

leaders  of  the  Church,  but  somehow  or  in 
some  way  they  had  been  led  into  the  Second 
Advent  doctrine,  which  is  so  prominent  and 
forcibly  taught  in  the  Scriptures  by  Christ 
Himself,  and  all  of  the  Apostles  and  Prophets, 
many  of  them  pointing  to  the  time  of  His 
(Christ's)  presence,  and  the  work  to  be 
accomplished  at  that  time.  This  little 
society  of  believers  were  honest  and  devoted 
people,  and  I,  then,  not  perceiving  and 
understanding  the  teaching  of  Scripture  on 
this  doctrine  as  it  has  been  revealed  and 
shown  to  me  since,  can  see  now  very  plainly 
that  they  did  not  at  that  time  comprehend 
or  understand  the  Scriptural  teaching  of  the 
manner  of  His  (Christ's)  coming  or  pre- 
sence, nor  the  object  of  his  coming;  for  to 
this  world  it  will  be  one  of  the  greatest, 
the  grandest  events  that  the  world  can 
conceive  of,  as  it  will  be  a  complete  revo- 
lution, a  change  of  government,  social, 
political  and  religious  or  ecclesiastical;  the 
government  is  to  be  upon  His  (Christ's) 
shoulders,    old    things   are    to    pass    away. 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  147 

"Behold,  I  will  make  all  things  new;  Thy 
kingdom  come,  Thy  will  be  done  on  the 
earth,"  so  there  must  be  a  turning  around — 
a  revolution  in  due  time,  when  the  transfer 
is  made  and  completed;  and  if  God's  word 
is  true  and  not  false,  it  is  sure  to  come,  and 
I  hope,  in  the  near  future.  So  I  see  now, 
what  I  did  not  then,  that  those  devoted 
people  were  blinded  in  respect  to  the  manner 
and  object  of  the  coming  and  presence  of 
the  Son  of  Man. 

The  old  sailor's  death,  I  was  informed 
by  old  Captain  Tribble  of  New  London, 
was  singular  and  remarkable,  and  was  in 
this  way :  he  was  looked  up  to  as  the  father 
of  the  little  society,  therefore  their  council- 
lor and  guide;  he,  on  a  certain  evening,  in 
one  of  their  social  meetings  was  discoursing 
on  the  Scriptures  and  the  precious  promises 
therein,  in  order  to  strengthen  their  faith 
and  hopes  for  the  future.  While  talking 
he  was  suddenly  overcome  with  heart- 
failure,  and  dropped  to  the  floor  uncon- 
scious,   and    in    a    few   seconds   was   dead; 


148        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

thus    passing    away    peacefully    and    as    he 
thought,  in  the  service  of  the  Truth. 

Returning  again  to  my  recollections  of  the 
steamers  of  the  forties,  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago, 
my  mind  refers  back  to  a  class  of  steamers 
greatly  improved,  and  much  in  advance  of 
those  I  have  mentioned.  A  class  of  steamers 
brought  forward  to  a  higher  rate  of  speed 
by  the  wonderful  improvement  in  machinery 
and  boilers,  also  by  knowledge  and  instruction 
gained  experimentally  in  the  art  of  ship- 
building; for  about  this  time  there  was  a 
complete  advancement  in  the  shape,  length, 
symmetry  and  commodious  plans  of  these 
steamers.  A  few  which  now  come  to  my 
remembrance,  I  will  mention,  such  as  the 
Swallow,  Rochester,  South  America,  North  Am- 
erica, Utica,  Robert  L.  Stevens,  not  leaving  out 
the  old  Norwich,  for  she  is  still  in  existence 
and  in  everyday  use,  having  been  used  as 
a  tow-boat  since  1850.  Her  hull  and  shape 
appeared  to  be  well-formed  and  adapted 
for  the  ice,  as  she  has  been  and  is  now  used 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  149 

as  a  very  successful  boat  in  heavy  ice. 
The  Swallow  and  Rochester  were  opposition 
boats  on  the  night  line  between  New  York 
and  Albany,  at  that  time  landing  all  along 
the  river,  both  leaving  the  same  nights. 

On  April  7,  1845,  a  very  dark  and  threat- 
ening night,  the  Swallow  left  Albany  on  her 
usual  time  with  a  goodly  number  of  pas- 
sengers and  usual  amount  of  freight.  She 
had  not  proceeded  far,  when  it  set  in  to 
snow,  the  wind  blowing  heavy  from  the  north 
and  east,  with  every  prospect  and  indication 
of  its  increasing  to  a  gale.  She  had,  by 
careful  management  of  the  pilot  and  cap- 
tain, succeeded  in  getting  to  Coxsackie,  where 
she  landed,  and  she  should  have  stayed 
there,  for  it  proved  to  become  darker,  wind 
increasing  to  a  gale,  and  the  snow  blinding 
the  vision  so  that  is  was  impossible  to  see 
anything  ahead.  I  suppose  the  last  object 
seen  after  leaving  the  narrow  channel  was 
the  light  on  Four  Mile  Point.  From  that 
time  it  was  all  guess-work  until  she  struck 
the  Little  Island  Rock,  which  lay  off  the 


ISO        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

upper  part  of  the  then  village  of  Athens,  the 
pilot  supposing  that  he  was  far  enough  down 
to  shape  his  course  to  go  through  Pierce's 
Reach,  below  Athens,  which  course  is  much 
more  to  the  west  than  the  reach  above.  She 
must  have  been  going  at  full  speed,  for  her 
bow  was  completely  out  on  the  rock,  her 
stem  in  deep  water,  which  caused  her  to 
break  in  two  just  aft  of  the  forward  gangway. 
There  was  a  number  of  passengers,  about 
thirteen  male,  lost.  It  being  a  very  cold, 
severe,  northeast  snow-storm  there  were 
more  lost  than  if  it  had  been  warm  weather. 
The  Swallow  was  a  very  nice  boat  for  her 
day,  not  quite  as  long  as  the  Rochester,  her 
opponent,  nor  so  low  in  the  water.  She 
had  a  large  bird,  a  flying  swallow,  painted 
on  her  wheel-house.  I  remember  the  same 
gale  did  much  damage  all  along  the  river, 
there  being  a  number  of  vessels  swamped. 
There  was  a  ver>^  heavy  swell  in  Newburgh 
bay.  The  sloop  Levant  was  coming  down 
the  river  loaded,  and  trying  to  make  a 
harbor,  sunk  at  the  dock  just  below  First 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  151 

Street.  The  sloop  Rising  Sun  also,  in  the 
same  gale,  laying  to  anchor  off  the  lower 
part  of  the  Hook  Mountain,  just  above 
Nyack,  started  her  anchors  and  dragged 
them  below  Nyack,  went  ashore  and  to 
pieces,  drowning  the  captain  and  one  man. 
Somehow,  I  do  not  think  we  now  have  such 
severe  weather  or  gales,  nor  do  they  last 
so  long  as  formerly. 

About  this  time,  or  a  little  later,  there 
was  an  incident  or  accident  which  happened 
on  one  of  the  up-trips  of  the  Rochester. 
I  remember,  also,  it  was  blowing  heavy 
from  the  southeast,  for  I  was  at  the  Long 
Dock  the  same  night  she  landed  there.  It  ifjlf^ 
was  the  custom  in  those  days  for  all  of  the 
steamers  to  carry  a  good  sized  yawl-boat 
at  or  near  the  after  gangw^ay,  where  the  pas- 
sengers came  aboard ;  this  boat  was  carried 
on  two  heavy  iron  davits  or  cranes,  with 
good,  suitable  threefold  tackles  attached 
to  the  cranes,  there  being  a  boat  on  both 
sides  of  the  steamer,  but  for  what  purpose 
they  were  carried  there,  I  cannot  conceive, 


-^ 


fi^   ^i^^€C!u^  <^ko,  i^  *^^^^ 


152        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

unless  in  case  of  accident,  if  a  passenger 
should  fall  overboard  to  rescue  him.  It 
was  the  custom  to  have  one  man,  expert  in 
handling  the  boat,  a  good  swimmer,  reliable 
and  fearless,  selected  from  the  crew,  to  take 
charge  of  the  boat  at  every  landing.  When 
she  was  lowered  into  the  water,  the  stern 
and  bow-painters  were  passed  around 
one  of  the  guard-braces,  the  tackles  un- 
hooked, and  so  the  boat  was  under  the 
guard,  aft  of  the  wheel,  while  landing;  the 
man  in  her  holding  the  stern-painter  tight, 
keeping  the  boat  close  to  the  hull  of  the 
steamer  until  she  left  the  dock,  then  the 
tackles  were  hooked  and  the  boat  hoisted 
out  of  the  water  again.  The  man  chosen 
for  this  purpose  on  the  Rochester  was  Con- 
stantine  Smith,  whom  I  knew,  he  being 
the  father  of  Captain  Coleman's  wife,  also 
Captain  Jacob  DuBois'  wife,  so  long  on 
the  old  steamer  Norwich.  As  I  have  said, 
when  she  landed  that  night  it  was  blowing 
very  heavy  from  the  southeast  and  there  was 
a  strong:  flood-tide. 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  153 

I  have  always  noticed  in  my  experience 
on  the  river,  that  in  a  southeaster,  the 
farther  you  go  up  the  river,  the  stronger 
the  wind  blows.  Also,  in  a  northeaster 
when  leaving  Albany,  the  farther  down 
the  river  you  go,  the  stronger  the  wind 
blows — and  so  on  this  particular  night 
when  the  Rochester  reached  Coxsackie  it 
was  blowing  very  heavy,  which  necessitated 
the  steamer  backing  stronger  than  usual. 
Mr.  Smith  was  in  the  small  boat  under  the 
guard.  There  being  an  extra  strain  on 
the  painters,  they  parted,  which  let  the 
boat  go  under  the  wheel,  ground  up  the 
boat  and  killed  Mr.  Smith.  What  there  was 
left  of  him  was  found  some  time  afterwards 
down  at  Four  Mile  Point.  It  was  not  long 
after  this  accident  that  the  custom  of  carry- 
ing the  boats  in  the  gangway  on  davits 
was  abolished.  The  South  America  was 
one  of  the  steamers  which  has  made  the 
best  time  from  New  York  to  Albany.  She 
came  out  just  after  the  Swallow  and  Roch- 
ester on  the  night  line  between  New  York 


154        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

and  Albany.  She  was  still  an  improvement 
on  the  former  boat,  and  very  much  so  in 
respect  to  speed.  Her  run,  stern  and  after 
part  were  much  finer  and  sharper  than  any 
other  boat  which  had  been  built,  power 
greatly  increased,  so  much  so,  that  she  made 
the  fastest  time  from  New  York  to  Albany 
on  record,  which  was  something  less  than 
eight  hours,  I  think,  seven  hours  and  forty- 
five  minutes,  making  seven  landings.  Al- 
though I  remember  that  the  conditions 
were  exceptionally  favorable.  She  having  a 
heavy  southeast  wind,  also  a  strong  flood- 
tide  which  she  carried  all  the  way  through. 
In  those  days  they  did  not  observe  run- 
ning on  schedule  time  as  now,  but  went 
through  as  fast  as  possible,  but  this,  as  far 
as  I  know,  is  the  fastest  time  on  record,  and 
in  those  days  was  frequently  alluded  to  as 
the  fastest  time  to  Albany  from  New  York. 
The  other  boats  which  I  have  spoken  of, 
that  came  out  about  that  time,were  the  UHca, 
Robert  L.  Stevens,  also  the  Norwich,  which  I 
think  w^as  built  some  little  time  before  the 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  155 

others.  However,  they  all  were  used  as 
passenger  and  freight  boats  on  the  river 
until  about  the  year  1850,  and  then  used 
as  tow-boats.  The  old  Norwich  running 
from  Rondout,  was  owned  by  Thomas  Cornell 
and  the  engineer,  a  Mr.  Moore,  who  alw^ays 
was  on  her  and  ran  the  engine,  he  being  a 
very  kind,  sociable  man,  and  very  attentive 
to  his  duties  as  an  engineer.  I  remember 
that  these  three  boats,  the  Uiica,  Robert  L. 
Stevens,  and  Norwich  in  those  days  were 
used  winters  in  the  ice.  The  Utica  always 
had  a  false  bow  put  on,  expressly  for  the 
ice.  The  other  two,  in  the  formation  of  their 
hulls  and  bows,  were  constructed  in  a  manner 
so  that  they  were  a  complete  success  as 
regards  to  fighting  ice,  and  if  their  engines 
had  the  increased  power  which  they  give 
boats  in  these  days,  they  would  have  been 
much  more  efficient  in  the  ice.  The  Erie 
Railroad  used  all  three  of  them,  also  the 
powerful  Sandy  Hook  boats,  William  Webb, 
New  Haven,  and  Doctor  Kane,  to  keep  the 
river  open  in  the  winter  from  Piermont   to 


156        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

New  York.  When  the  Erie  was  first  con- 
structed, their  terminal  was  at  Piermont, 
some  twenty-two  or  twenty-three  miles 
from  the  city.  All  of  the  freight  and  pas- 
sengers from  the  West  were  transferred  at 
this  point  on  barges  and  steamers  for  New 
York,  which  necessitated  much  work,  and 
very  hard,  dangerous  work  and  navigation 
in  the  severe  winters  which  we  formerly 
had. 

The  river  frequently,  in  those  days,  was 
packed  full  of  heavy  ice  to  the  city.  I  have 
many  times  seen  the  harbor  just  as  full  of  ice 
as  any  other  portion  of  the  river;  in  fact, 
I  have  seen  people  walking  across  both  the 
East  and  North  Rivers  on  the  ice.  Some- 
times it  would  take  two  days  to  get  to  the 
city  with  these  boats  from  Piermont.  I 
have  heard  Captain  Jacob  DuBois  say  that 
at  one  time,  in  one  of  those  severe  winters, 
he  was  one  week  with  the  Norwich  getting 
from  Piermont  to  the  city.  I  know,  and 
am  confident  from  what  I  have  seen  and 
from  past  experience,  that  we  have  not  as 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  157 

severe  winter  weather  as  formerly,  but  if  we 
did  have  now  just  as  severe  winters,  the  great 
advancement  and  improvements  of  this,  our 
day,  the  wonderful  accommodation  and  facil- 
ities for  travel  and  transfer  of  freight  of  all 
kinds,  which  man  has  invented  and  sought 
out,  I  believe  would  overcome  the  severest 
winters  that  we  ever  had.  During  one  or 
two  of  those  winters  of  the  forties,  two  of 
these  boats,  I  remember,  the  Utica  with 
her  false  bow,  and  the  Robert  L.  Stevens 
attempted  the  experiment,  and  did  form 
a  daily  line  between  Newburgh  and  New 
York,  each  coming  up  on  alternate  days. 
They  succeeded  very  well  in  their  endeavors, 
but  it  was  hard  work.  The  wear  and  severe 
strain  on  the  wheels  and  boats  in  general, 
I  think,  caused  it  to  be  a  failure  financially. 
The  winters  were  quite  severe,  the  river 
being  frozen  from  shore  to  shore,  they  having 
a  track  to  come  through,  which  they  had 
to  break  through  afresh  every  day,  the 
same  as  our  ferry  boats  do  now  when  the 
ice  is  fast.     I  have  seen  the  boys  skating 


158        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

close  alongside  of  them  when  coming  up 
and  often  jump  from  the  ice  on  the  Utica's 
false  bow,  or  on  the  Robert  L.  Stevens'  guards. 
Before  I  pass  on  to  mention  other  steam- 
ers, I  will  notice  one  which  I  had  nearly 
forgotten.  I  can  just  remember  her  as  run- 
ning a  short  time  from  Cornwall.  I  am 
sure  that  she  did  not  run  there  long.  It  was 
the  old  steamboat  Experiment,  a  Captain 
Griswold  in  charge  of  her.  She  ran  from 
there  as  freight  and  passenger  boat.  Where 
she  went  to,  or  what  became  of  her,  I  cannot 
say,  for,  about  the  year  1840,  the  sloop 
Revenge,  Captain  Joseph  Ketcham,  had  the 
business,  and  it  was  at  that  time  very  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  by  him,  as  he  was  a 
thorough  business  man.  I  think  Reeve 
Ketcham,  the  lawyer,  in  Mr.  Cassidy's  office 
is  his  son.  I  remember  also  that  Jesse 
Masten,  so  long  pilot  of  the  West  Point  ferry, 
was  the  mate  and  sailing  master  of  the 
Revenge,  and  that  he  went  from  there  to 
the  ferry  at  West  Point  when  they  ferried 
with  rowboats.     About  this  time,   1838  or 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  159 

1840,  the  steamboat  Emerald  was  sunk  just 
below  Cornwall,  in  the  cove  between  Butter 
Hill  1  and  the  Crow's  Nest,  but  however,  the 
circumstances  of  her  filling  I  have  forgotten. 
Then  a  few  years  later  on  they  broke  her 
shaft  and  ran  her  on  the  Two  Brothers, 
a  reef  of  rocks  a  little  below  West  Point 
Foundry  dock  at  Cold  Spring,  there  also 
she  filled.    This  was  in  the  year  1845. 

After  the  sad  and  fatal  disaster  of  the 
Neptune,  which  occurred  on  November  24, 
1824,  there  was  a  decisive  feeling  against 
sloop  navigation,  in  respect  to  canying 
passengers  on  the  sloops  and  packets.  Notic- 
ing that  their  business  had  fallen  off  in 
respect  to  passengers,  and  somewhat  in 
freight  also,  in  the  following  year  there 
was  a  meeting  called  in  January,  of  sloop 
owners  and  forwarders,  to  consider  the 
situation.  At  the  meeting  there  was  a 
committee  appointed  to  look  into  and 
report  relative  to  the  building  of  good  and 
efficient    steamboats    for    the    purpose    of 

«  Now  called  Storm  King.— W.  E.  V. 


i6o        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

carrying  freight  and  passengers  from  the 
village  of  Newburgh  and  landings  nearby. 
The  chairman  of  that  meeting  was  Selah 
Reeve,  and  David  Crawford  was  secretary. 
The  committee  consisted  of  John  P.  De 
Wint,  Uriah  Lockwood,  John  Wiltse,  Chris- 
topher Reeve  and  David  Crawford. 

In  the  winter  of  1829  and  1830,  Christopher 
Reeve  bought  the  steamer  Baltimore  and 
placed  her  on  the  route  to  New  York  in 
the  spring  of  1830,  and  ran  alternately, 
first  from  Reeve's  dock,  then  from  Craw- 
ford's dock.  She,  of  course,  was  very 
rude  and  commonplace,  as  all  of  the  first 
steamers  were,  yet  she  was  hailed  with  a 
popular  feeling  and  regard.  The  same  year, 
(1830)  the  William  Young  which  was  being 
built  at  Low  Point  was  launched.  She 
commenced  to  run  from  Benjamin  Carpen- 
ter's dock  in  September.  She  had  much 
the  same  appearance  as  the  Baltimore,  as 
I  saw  both  afterwards.  Her  owners  claimed, 
however,  that  the  Young  was  the  better 
boat  and  a  better  model,  and  claimed  her 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  i6i 

to  be  the  fastest  boat.  The  Baliimore  con- 
tinued to  run  from  Newburgh  until  the 
year  1835,  and  then  was  transferred  to  the 
Albany  route  from  Newburgh.  Then  came 
on  the  scene  of  action  the  steamers  Legis- 
lator and  Providence.  In  1833  David  Craw- 
ford built  the  steamer  Washington  and  put 
her  on  the  route  in  November  of  that  year 
for  the  first;  she  was  larger  and  superior 
to  any  which  had  been  built.  She  created 
quite  a  competition  and  aroused  the  energies 
of  the  other  freighting  establishments,  and 
caused  Mr.  Carpenter  to  build  the  James 
Madison  in  the  year  1835,  which  was  a 
boat  in  many  points  superior  to  the  Wash- 
ington, being  very  proud  of  having  the 
first  beam-engine  on  the  river  or  in  the 
carrying  trade. 

Mr.  Crawford's  business  was  so  increased 
that  he  ran  both  the  Baltimore  and  the 
Washington  for  a  while.  Then  Thomas 
Powell  built  the  steamer  Highlander  at 
Philadelphia.  She,  in  her  day,  was  first 
class,  in  many  respects  superior  to  her  rivals, 


i62        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

especially  in  speed.  I  remember  her  greatest 
rival  in  speed  was  the  Rochester  on  the 
Albany  and  New  York  route.  It  is  well 
known  by  some  of  our  oldest  citizens  that 
there  was  so  much  said  and  such  a  feeling 
in  respect  to  the  speed  of  the  two  boats, 
that  there  was  a  bet  made  of  $1000  to  race 
from  New  York  to  Newburgh.  The  race 
came  off,  and  the  Highlander  lost  by  half 
a  minute,  on  a  straight  run.  The  Osceola 
was  a  neat  little  boat  for  her  day  and  speedy, 
running  between  Poughkeepsie  and  New 
York,  also  on  the  morning  line.  They  chal- 
lenged the  old  Highlander  and  the  old  boat 
won,  and  so  kept  up  her  reputation.  Up 
to  the  time  that  the  Thomas  Powell  was 
built  (1846)  there  were  wonderful  strides 
made  in  the  speed  of  steamers  on  the  river, 
but  the  progress  since  has  not  advanced  in 
speed,  only  in  comfort  and  convenience  to 
the  public. 

The  first  five  steamboats  that  were  built 
for  business  on  the  Hudson  River  were  the 
Clermont,  Robert  Fulton,   Fire-Fly,  Paragon 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  163 

and  the  Lady  Richmond.  These  boats  were 
built  by  Bell  &  Brown  of  New  York  City. 
These  steamboats  were  owned  by  Robert  Ful- 
ton and  Robert  L.  Livingston,  and  at  first,  run 
by  them,  A  Mr.  Samuel  Goodrich  in  those 
early  days  had  one  of  the  two  shipyards 
at  Coxsackie;  Mr.  Timothy  Wood  having 
the  other.  These  steamers  of  Mr.  Fulton's 
and  Mr.  Livingston's  were  frequently  re- 
paired at  Mr.  Goodrich's  shipyard  at  Cox- 
sackie. Mr.  Goodrich  afterwards  removed 
to  Hyde  Park,  where  he  estabhshed  a  ship- 
yard and  built  the  famous  old  steamer 
Novelty,  carrying  on  an  extensive  business 
there.  The  construction  of  the  Novelty  was 
begun  in  the  fall  of  1830.  Her  keel  was 
laid  alongside  of  the  little  creek  which  flows 
down  through  the  hills  and  empties  into  the 
Hudson,  where  the  station  of  the  Hudson 
River  Railroad  now  stands,  and  when  nav- 
igation opened  in  the  spring  of  183 1  she 
was  finished.  In  those  days  the  method 
for  getting  lumber  quickly  and  to  order  in 
the  shape  it  was  desired  was  not  the  same 


i64        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

as  it  is  now.  Along  the  river  was  an  abund- 
ance of  all  kinds  of  trees  and  of  any  size 
desired.  The  ship  carpenter  could  go  into 
the  woods  and  select  the  keel,  stem,  stern- 
post  and  ship-knees,  as  he  wished.  This 
was  done  in  the  case  of  the  Novelty.  The 
engine  was  built  at  the  Novelty  Iron  Works, 
New  York  City,  whence  her  name.  Her 
engine  was  neither  cross-head  nor  walking- 
beam,  but  it  was  a  horizontal  incline  engine. 
The  secret  of  her  great  speed  at  that  early 
day  was  the  smart  engine  and  the  new  style 
of  boiler,  altogether  different  and  a  new  de- 
parture and  invention  which  generated  steam 
faster  and  of  greater  volume  than  the  first 
old  boilers  in  the  former  boats  built. 

This  improved  steamboat  boiler  was  first 
the  thought  and  invention  of  a  man  by  the 
name  of  Bliss.  Afterwards  a  Doctor  Mott, 
a  stove  dealer,  got  hold  of  the  patent,  and 
it  has  ever  since  been  called  or  known  as 
the  Tubular  Boiler,  but  has  been  greatly 
improved  on  since.  For  this  increased 
volume  and  pressure  of  steam   the   model 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  165 

of  the  Novelty  was  a  little  too  fine;  her 
hull  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
feet  long;  forward  her  designer  had  departed 
from  the  former  style  of  full  bow,  there- 
fore when  under  full  pressure  of  steam  she 
buried  too  much.  This  defect  was  rem- 
edied by  the  construction  of  a  false  bow, 
which  overcame  the  difficulty  and  gave 
her  the  buoyancy  of  a  duck.  This  false 
bow  was  thirty  feet  long,  making  her  two 
hundred  and  five  feet  long.  After  her  run- 
ning a  while  and  everything  in  working 
order,  the  Novelty  went  to  Albany  and 
made  her  memorable  trip  to  New  York, 
her  time  was  seven  hours  and  thirty-five 
minutes,  including  landings  at  Kinderhook, 
Coxsackie,  Hudson,  Catskill,  Bristol,  Red 
Hook,  Kingston  Point,  Hyde  Park,  Pough- 
keepsie,  Milton,  Newburgh,  West  Point, 
Caldwell's,  if  the  accounts  are  reliable. 
Faster  time  has  been  claimed  by  other 
boats,  but  this  was  a  revolution  in  the  speed 
of  side-wheel  boats  back  in  the  thirties, 
due  to  different  model  and  the  introduction 


i66        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

of  the  tubular  boiler  in  the  Novelty,  which 
has  led  to  the  coil  boilers  afterwards.  The 
Novelty  was  not  run  long  on  the  route  to 
Albany,  she  having  the  advantage  over 
the  boats  of  the  North  River  Steamboat 
Company.  The  history  of  the  Novelty  was 
ended  on  the  North  River,  there  being  a 
contract  made  with  the  owner  of  the  Novelty 
and  owners  of  the  other  boats  and  she  was 
taken  off.  But  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  all  of  the  steamers  coming  after  had 
tubular  boilers.  Mr.  Samuel  Goodrich  built 
other  boats  and  vessels  at  Hyde  Park,  viz., 
the  barge  /.  L.  Rathbone,  sloop  Waterloo, 
schooner  W.  L.  Ruff,  and  the  Old  Hickory 
for  people  on  Staten  Island. 

To  show  the  longevity  and  usefulness 
of  a  well-built  boat — in  fact  the  vessels, 
steamers  and  barges  which  they  built  in 
my  younger  days  are  far  superior  to  the 
wooden  vessels  of  this  day,  all  of  our  old 
craft  have  proved  the  truth  of  what  I  say — 
take  the  case  of  the  barge  Minnisink  which 
was  built  at  Milton  by  David  Sands,  and 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  167 

a  more  honest  shipbuilder  never  lived, 
everything  he  did  was  done  upon  honor. 
Another  fact  also  I  have  noticed  in  my  long 
experience  is,  that  the  timbers  formerly 
procured  and  used  in  my  early  days  were 
much  superior  to  the  timbers  and  planking 
used  now.  The  Minnisink' s  keel  was  laid 
in  the  year  1838,  the  frame  was  of  the  best 
of  locust,  white  oak  and  red  cedar.  She 
was  not  finished  until  about  1840,  so  that 
her  frame  was  allowed  to  season  well  while 
building;  David  Crawford  of  Newburgh  then 
bought  her  for  the  freighting  business. 
She  was  fully  and  completely  fastened  with 
bolts  and  washers  riveted  and  locust  tree- 
nails wedged.  Her  original  length  was  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet,  and  in  1854 
Crawford  cut  her  in  two  and  added  thirty 
feet  amidships,  giving  her  a  length  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  feet.  She  was  fitted 
up  the  best  for  those  days  both  for  pas- 
sengers and  for  freight.  In  1856  Crawford 
&  Company  sold  her  to  B.  Carpenter  & 
Company,    and   they   in    1864   sold   her   to 


i68        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

Homer  Ramsdell.  In  1868  her  planking 
was  worn  so  thin  by  water  and  ice  that  Mr. 
Ramsdell  replanked  her  and  did  other  work 
necessary  to  place  her  in  first-class  condition. 
Mr.  Ramsdell  kept  her  steadily  at  work 
until  1872,  when  she  was  used  as  a  spare 
boat  and  for  excursions,  and  I  believe  she 
was  then  used  as  a  receiving  barge  in  New 
York,  receiving  all  freight  that  was  not 
disposed  of  by  the  other  boats  which  ran 
daily,  and  if  memory  serves,  she  was  kept 
by  Mr.  Ramsdell,  usefully  employed,  until 
about  the  year  1879  or  so,  having  been  in 
use  for  some  forty  years  for  Newburgh 
people,  and  of  late  years  she  was  used  as 
a  lighter  around  the  harbor. 


ADDITIONAL   NOTES    ON    SLOOPS    BY    CAPTAIN 
GEORGE    D.    WOOLSEY. 

Sloop  Catharine,  Captain  William  Wandel, 
sailed  from  Daniel  Smith's  dock,  1800. 

Sailed  from  Daniel  Smith's  dock,  two 
miles  above  Newburgh,  1804,  sloop  Con- 
fidence, Captain  Griggs. 


SLOOP    "GENERAL   PUTNAM,"    BUILT    BY    CHARLES   COLLYER 
From  an  oil  painting 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  169 

Sloop  Sportsman,  Daniel  T.  Smith,  captain, 
1804,  sailed  first  from  Hiigh  Walsh's  dock, 
after  Daniel  Smith's  dock,  two  miles  above 
Newburgh. 

Samuel  Seymour  carried  on  the  ship- 
building business  at  the  foot  of  South  Street, 
Newburgh,  until  the  last  of  the  year  1805. 
In  the  year  1804  he  fell  into  the  hold  of  a 
ship  he  was  building  for  the  West  India 
trade,  which  accident  caused  him  to  be 
lame  afterwards;  the  shipyard  then  came 
into  possession  of  Timothy  and  Samuel 
Wood,  brothers.  Timothy  removed  to  Cox- 
sackie  about  181 2,  built  the  Timothy  Wood 
and  the  Addison  about  18 19,  when  there. 
Samuel  Wood  retained  the  yard  at  foot 
of  South  Street,  where  he  built  the  Argus, 
Meridian,  Orange  Packet,  Illinois,  and  other 
sloops,  also  the  Neptune  (1820),  and  the 
Illinois  (18 1 8). 

In  the  year  1804,  the  sloop  Diligent, 
Captain  James  Bloomer,  was  run  as  a  packet 
from  Walsh's  dock,  village  of  Newburgh, 
to  New  York,  freight  and  passengers. 


ijo        Sloops  of  the  Hudson 

In  the  year  1803,  the  sloop  Amelia  was 
on  the  route  from  Newburgh  to  Albany. 

In  the  year  1803,  the  sloops  Jefferson  and 
Two  Sisters  were  run  as  packets  to  New 
York  from  Newburgh. 

In  the  year  1803,  the  sloop  Fanny,  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Logan;  also  the  Orange  and 
sloop  Goliath  were  packets  to  New  York. 

In  the  year  1803,  the  sloop  Belvidere, 
Captain  Leonard  Carpenter,  owner,  and  the 
sloop  Justice,  Captain  John  Helms  ran  on 
the  line  to  New  York. 

In  the  year  1800,  the  sloops  Vice-Presi- 
dent, Senator  Burr,  and  Ceres  ran  on  the 
line  to  New  York. 

In  the  years  1804  and  1805,  Jacob  and 
Leonard  Carpenter  had  the  sloops  Mary 
and  Sally  Jane  on  the  line  from  the  village 
of  Newburgh  to  New  York,  running  from 
their  dock. 

In  the  years  1800  and  1801,  the  sloops 
Hopewell,  Eliza  Washington,  and  Minerva 
were  run  from  the  village  of  Newburgh. 

In   1802,  the  Harriet,  Goshen,  and  Katy 


Capt.  Woolsey's  Reminiscences  171 

Maria  were  run  from  his  dock,  by  Jacob 
Powell,  at  Newburgh. 

Two  years  before,  in  the  year  1800,  he 
ran  the  sloop  Montgomery,  carrying  pas- 
sengers and  freight. 

On  November  11,  1804,  the  sloop  Nelly 
Maria,  Captain  Van  Keuren  of  Poughkeepsie, 
upset  opposite  the  village  of  Newburgh, 
in  a  heavy  gale,  all  hands  and  passengers 
were  rescued. 

THE    END 


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